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

[Team Jetfire]

904-2
Diamond Select- Avatar the Last Airbender: The Phoenix King Ozai.




If I haven’t already, this is my formal recommendation to all fans of ATLA to check out the OFFICIAL Avatar podcast hosted by Dante Basco (Zuko) and Janet Varney (Korra) where they review each episode of Avatar: The Last Airbender, provide behind the scenes details and interview creators, fans and other voice actors that have given life to these characters. And while I understand that these official podcasts are sometimes lacking, it is clear that a lot of care has gone into each episode and is a must for all superfans of the series. One of my favorite episodes featured an interview with Grey Griffin who voiced Azula and provides a bit of context for her overall process as well as how VA roles are often an afterthought in their career. It’s available on all major podcast platforms and has a lot of back episodes with a lot more to come.

Pros: Ozai is a perfect example of everything that is both good and bad with Diamond Select. The good obviously is the fantastic sculpting, decent articulation and nice effects including both the lightning and flame hands.

Cons: The bad is that I’m not sure how to incorporate everything they gave him. Like the big sonic boom fire effect is really cool, but how is it supposed to work? Like the stand isn’t sturdy enough to hold either of them. I also find it weird that we got “final battle” shirtless/crazy hair Ozai and would have preferred a normal version?

[Team Jetfire]

905-2
Mattel- He-Man and the Masters of the Universe Retro: Beastman




Dollar for dollar, these are currently the best toys on the market for kids and collectors alike. Yes the sculpts are not perfect (some are downright ugly) but the sculpts are solid, they have a perfect amount of articulation with everything you’d want from a current release and all have key accessories that both make sense and often can be stored somewhere on the figure. I mean, don’t get me wrong: I love G.I. Classified, Black Series and NECA as much as the next guy, but they also cost double what Mattel is pumping out and are often far from perfect or sometimes even good.

Pros: I love the sculpt, I love the extra pieces including the armor and the head dress, I love the articulation and I love the price.

Cons: I get the whip, but I don’t love the design.

[Team Jetfire]

906-2
Jazwares- Fortnite Legendary Series Brawlers: Meowscles





Well, this is a bummer. A Jazwares Fortnite figure that I was really looking forward to completely let me down and it isn’t for the typical reasons: A limb didn’t break off, the articulation is not hindered in any way due to hard plastic, and there are even working holsters to store his (her? Their?) handguns; they are just not a great figure. I suppose some of the blame has to go to Hasbro given that their Meowscles figure is superior in every way, but my issues would still be valid without the timely comparison.

Pros: Having high hopes for Meowscles makes this review very rough as those hopes were not met, but let's start with the good: Solid sculpt with some nice Fortnite-y detail, predictably lots of articulation for poses and I LOVE the handguns working holsters.

Cons: These are marketed as “brawlers” and infer a deluxe style figure: problem is, outside of their increased stature, there is nothing really deluxe about them. Less accessories than a standard release, no backpack and less face sculpts make me wonder why the figure cost more? To make matters worse what we did get is somewhat flawed: The holster doesn’t clasp well and is designed to short to line up with the hole on his pants. Also, the swords are massive and don’t fit properly in his hands. And don’t even get me started on the special crossbow weapon: Like, was this line of figures missing spring loaded projectiles? Boo.

[Team Jetfire]

S-46
Diamond Select- Star Wars (Disney Store): Darth Maul.




What a lovely surprise I got when I found this figure cleaning out my storage. I suppose it kind of says something when I forget what toys I have, but that is a problem for another day I suppose. Darth Maul was likely one of the last things I purchased from my local Disney Store (another issue for another day) so it will always be a bit special given that I loved shopping there with my daughter, who is a fellow hardcore Disney freak. That said, the timing for its release was a bit odd considering there was no real new push for prequal merch that I could see anyways. I guess Maul was featured in both Solo and the Clone Wars, so there could have been some traction for a new release, but maybe it was just an odd coincidence. Either way, I’m always happy to pick up any interesting toys from the prequels and Darth Maul will always be a favorite of mine.

Pros: At the very least Diamond Select figures get the job done. And while that sounds like a mediocre review, it’s not really meant to be. There is nothing particularly awesome about this Darth Maul figure, but there is nothing terrible either: A solid sculpt, fine articulation and some nice accessories to go with it. Ultimately it counts as a decent all around toy.

Cons: On the flip side, there is nothing on this figure that screams innovative, or especially fun. I mean, it’s Darth Maul, should he not have a wider range of motion to do his acrobatics and show off his agility? Ah well, at least he looks great on the shelf, which is very typical for Diamond Select figures.

[Team Jetfire]

907-2
Hasbro- Marvel Legends: Deadpool & Negasonic Teenage Warhead.





I know I’ve said this before, but I am on the precipice of a veritable Deadpool tidal wave of toys and will surely have a lot to say about the character, so instead I’ll focus on the NTW for this review. Some fun facts that I learned: 1. She has a different power in the movies than in the comic and came at a cost to allow Ego the Living Planet to appear in the Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2 film. It’s not stated why Fox wanted to change her powers, but I think it was more of a case of “I like the character, but can’t afford her real powers” than anything else. For the record, I couldn't care less as my first intro to the character was in the first Deadpool movie, so it’s not like I was expecting anything different. 2. Her “in universe” girlfriend “Yukio” was a character already used in Fox’s “The Wolverine” which IS annoying and could have easily been rectified with making Yukio a different Asian X-Men. To quote the movie “now that’s just lazy writing”. 3. Her name was taken directly from a music single of the same name performed by the rock band Monster Magnet and while you may not have heard THAT song, you probably have heard their biggest hit “Space Lord” from the 90’s: I even had the album! It’s extra cool because the head guy of Monster Magnet, Dave Wyndorf is a massive comics fan and often appears on the podcast “Tell ‘Em Steve Dave” which was the inspiration for Kevin Smiths “reality show” Comic Book Men.

Pros: Deadpool- Everything, everything, everything. This is peak Hasbro and an amazing figure all around. If this was my only Marvel Legend figure I would be disappointed with my second one because there is no way it would be as good as this one.

Negasonic Teenage Warhead- Unfortunately as compared to Deadpool, NTW is really just ok. I will say that the sculpt is nice and I also appreciate the energy blast effects.

Cons: Deadpool- So here is the weird thing. He has working leg holsters with molded guns, but for some reason they glued them in place. The good news is that with some finagling they can be removed, but the bad news is that they often will break at the trigger guard when you try it.

NTW- After all this time, still no double jointed elbows for the female figures. Boo.

[Team Jetfire]

[Team Jetfire]

S-47
Hasbro- Fortnite Legendary Series: Upgrade Shark.





I don’t even know what to say at this point. I thought I would be done with new Fortnite figures, but when you see them on deep discount (or rather what they should cost) at Winners and Marshalls, well you just tend to get sucked in. And honestly why not? Who can say no to a big plastic shark that comes with a bunch of accessories? Apparently not me. I also felt compelled to pick this up in honor of my Dog whose name is Bruce. Now if anyone asks, we will say it’s a homage to Bruce Wayne/Batman given that he’s all black, but I’ll also say it’s also a shout out to Jaws as a nod to my favorite director Steven Spielberg who referred to the problematic animatronic Shark in Jaws as “Bruce” who I believe was his lawyer? Either way it works because my Bruce is also a pain at times and also likes to rip things to shreds at times.

Pros: I wanted a big plastic shark that was designed in the Fortnite with a range of new accessories including water skies, a fishing pole and sushi backpack and I got a big plastic shark that was designed in the Fortnite with a range of new accessories including water skies, a fishing pole and sushi backpack. No complaints here.

Cons: There is no way that I would have paid full price for this, but thanks to Winners I was happy to pick it up. Also, I wish that Hasbro included a water looking stand to hold up the shark given that he is just supposed to sit on his belly on the ground. It’s an easy fix with a small plastic craft container from the dollar store, but still…

[Team Jetfire]

908-2
Hasbro Star Wars Black Series: Scarif Stormtrooper Squad Leader




Back in my day there were four types of Stormtroopers: Normal, Sand, Snow and Forrest and THAT was it. They also only had black and white armor and THAT was it. And you know what? Things were pretty dang good. Now they have all kinds of different StormTroopers that I’m not even sure WHAT to do with them. Like what is this guy? Off white? Grey trousers? Blue paint? Are you even part of the Empire with that get up? And let me guess, they probably have great aim and NEVER hit their heads on opening doors…. SMH.

Only kidding, I seriously love any type of StormTrooper/clone trooper/Imperial Trooper that they want to throw at me.

Pros: I love how they updated the design of this Trooper to something that looks actually wearable in a war zone. It’s a great look that is captured nicely in the sculpt with a decent amount of articulation and ability to pose.

Cons: There is little doubt that there would have been an Imperial blaster included, but I just wish they would have provided a holster for storage.

[Team Jetfire]

909-2
Hasbro- Marvel Legends: Tombstone




*Sigh*

I’m sure there is someone out there that loves the character of Tombstone; perhaps someone that grew up watching the 90’s Animated Spider-Man series and who’s Grandparents got them a random Toy-Biz Tombstone figure of the time because Spider-Man was sold out, but I’m not that guy and this is a great example of Hasbro phoning it in. I suppose there is some unique molding from the popped up collar and the separate area and boot cuffs, but that’s it. No alt head sculpt, no other hands and no other accessories. Really asking a lot of collectors to drop $30+ on a real basic release.

Pros: I don’t know: Tombstone is a pretty simple release, but looks decent enough with a nice sculpt and solid articulation.

Cons: It’s just a filler piece needed to complete a BAF. Real shady business by Hasbro. Also, his turned up nose and crew cut hairstyle reminds me of a friend from high school that was a real stand up guy and not a villain in Spider-Man’s rogue's gallery.

[Team Jetfire]

910-2
McFarlane Toys: DC Multiverse: Omega




Yikes, two in a row that I consider “filler” needed to complete a BAF figure and frustrating as hell. In fact it’s stuff like this that made me all but stop collecting very specific McFarlane DC figures given that the releases were so inexplicable. Like at least with Tombstone, I actually know who he is, I know his story and have seen him in a cartoon, which is way more than I can say about Omega. I mean, I ended up googling and learning that he is a Bruce Wayne from another universe that is the “big bad” from a run of DC Batman comics (like every other figure from this BAF wave), but it shouldn’t be a mystery. Why can’t McFarlane just make the DC universe figures we know and love and cut it out with the weird stuff. HOWEVER I should qualify that I love cool toys and often don’t care about what it’s based on as long as the figure is nice, however this is just a double whammy of meh. I don’t give a crap about Omega and the figure is a snooze. DO better!

Pros: Omega is important to someone, but not me. That said, the sculpt looks nice enough and works with McFarlane’s typical articulation scheme.

Cons: What is fun about this figure? Nothing.