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

[Team Jetfire]

309-2
Mega Construx- Series 4: Hellboy.



Well, I messed up. I mean, maybe I didn’t really mess up and I’m not sure that anything I did would really help, but I did not do my part in ensuring a solid future for my favorite hell spawn, but clearly neither did everyone else. Maybe it should be less on me for not going to see it and more on the producers of the recent Hellboy movie that apparently missed the mark and released a box office bomb. Not that I could do any better, however I’m of the mind that not everything needs another kick at the can so to speak; perhaps the big screen is not the best place for Hellboy? Don’t get me wrong, there was 2 decent attempts at bat (that I could not get into), but Hellboy’s rise to popularity was low key, not big budget and maybe that is where they should have refocused their efforts? Not saying that a low budget movie would have fare any better, but perhaps a Cartoon or TV series would have worked well for the property, but instead we get the typical “all or nothing” movie that will usually sink an independent intellectual property as it doesn’t have Marvel or Disney on the marquis. So unfortunately, I think this might be it for Hellboy in popular culture and I think probably the last one in my collection, unless I am able to scrounge up $150 bucks to pick up the (amazing) Dark Horse figure that was recently released.

Pros: Mega Construx has done a surprisingly nice job with such a small figure. Nice detail, good articulation and even has key accessories which is nice. Makes me wonder how great a line of Star Wars Mega Construx could be if granted the license.

Cons: It was a big pricey at $4.99. I get that there is some unique tooling on these figures, but there was a time when I could get a single GI Joe Figure for 2.99. Old man problems, but annoying nevertheless.

[Team Jetfire]

310-2
Disney Toy Box- Marvel: Captain America.



Rating of worst to best of the Marvel Cinematic Universe movies continued; see review 207-2, 210-2, 216-2, 222-2, 228-2, 232-2, 233-2, 242-2, 244-2, 248-2, 254-2, 258-2, 259-2, 294-2. 296-2, 300-2 & 306-2 for the previous instalments.

Marvel Cinematic Universe Rating #5

I’ll just say it from the jump, I thought Avengers Endgame was somehow both really incredible and sadly adequate at the same time. It had an extremely difficult task to wrap up one of the most ambitus shared universe crossovers in movie history, undo the (figurative) damage to all the characters that were “dusted” in Avengers Infinity War all the while setting up the ever important “next phase” of the MCU and for the most part I, and a few other million movie-goers’ thought they did a pretty decent job. I suppose what sets this movie apart is that it almost feels like a 3 part mini-series timed together in one long ass movie. The first being the post battle result and subsequent hunting/killing of Thanos that did a nice job in solidifying the consequence of the Snap. It’s not very often that we get such a gloomy end to a movie, so to explore the fallout of that in the beginning of Endgame was a nice way to really double-down on the catastrophic effect it had on our heroes. The next part is probably my least favorite of the 3 because it felt somewhat anticlimactic. It was a known fact that the “dusted” heroes would have to come back somehow and given the rampant speculation post Infinity Wars it was clear that everyone had their own theory on how it was going to happen and would not really be satisfied regardless of what the Russo Brothers did. And it’s not to say that what we were given was bad, it just felt like a bit of a “clip” show what with jumping from one movie to the next as a sort of MCU victory lap. Granted, there were some standout moments: Hulk’s conversation with the Ancient One, Black Widow’s death and of course Thanos’ detection of Nebula which led to the third and final part of the mini-series that really is my favorite part of any MCU and almost any movie ever; It’s THAT FRIGGIN GOOD. You got everything: An action packed fight sequence that end with an amazing goose bump moment that was hinted at in a movie that came out years ago, followed by another “happy tear” moment when Falcon announces his, and all the other “dusted” heroes, return, followed by another incredible fight scene involving almost every hero the MCU has to offer and finally culminating, after 10 years and 22 moves, in Tony’s final hero moment that only he could really pull off.

As for my issues, I can’t help but feel that they really didn’t think about the consequences of bringing half of the world’s population back to life after 5 years of being gone. I suppose it’s just a comic movie and they will do comic book things to make it work, but I really find it hard to believe that everything would just go back to normal so easily as it was shown in Spiderman: Far From Home.

Pros: Another “new design” toy box figure that does not match the original Disney Infinity design and it is understandable why: MCU Captain America is certainly the new standard look for the character. Overall, I think he has a great looking sculpt, a decent amount of articulation and comes with his trademark shield.

Cons: It seems as we go through this line there is less and less articulation or ability to get a wide range of poses out of these figures and I think that is a bit a bummer. I suppose children are the target market for these figures, at $15 we should be happy with what get and, for me anyway, they really just sit on a shelf in one pose anyways, but It would be nice if they included standard things like ankle pivots on every figure….

[Team Jetfire]

311-2
Hasbro- Marvel Legends: Dr Strange



Rating of worst to best of the Marvel Cinematic Universe movies continued; see review 207-2, 210-2, 216-2, 222-2, 228-2, 232-2, 233-2, 242-2, 244-2, 248-2, 254-2, 258-2, 259-2, 294-2. 296-2, 300-2, 306-2 & 310-2 for the previous instalments.

Marvel Cinematic Universe Rating #4

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 1: Being the “general comic fan” that I was, I had a vague idea about who the Guardians of the Galaxy were prior to the announcement and release of GOTG: Vol1, but never explored much past what I had come across in comics and cartoon appearances. I mean, why would I? For me, comics were about super heroes fighting crime on earth, not gallivanting around in space; besides, I had Star Wars for all my Space needs, why confuse the situation any further? Fortunately I was wrong and clearly short sighted as some of my favorite comics involve space themes (Green Lantern anyone?) and GOTG really exceeded my expectations. Who knew a rag tag group of outsiders, including a talking Raccoon and Tree, could really be the basis for a billion dollar franchise; Well apparently James Gun, Kevin Feige and the rest of the marvel studios crew. I will say that the overall plot was a bit buy-the-numbers, (ie rag tag group of unlikely friends join together to find and protect a McGuffin (convenient plot device) from a super villain who wants it to become all powerful, destroy his enemies or rule the world) but its charm was in how it presented that story: With some amazing music and some legitimately hilarious comedic scenes. I thought I was a music fan and had a pretty good breadth of knowledge of cool songs and bands, but apparently I have a bit of a blind spot for the late 70s/early 80’s as I only really know a handful of songs on that Playlist. I still can’t get over how amazing it was to open with “Come and Get Your Love”, a song that was all but unknown, yet now almost overplayed. Another surprise was the humor. Sure, these Marvel movies tend to be a bit more light hearted, but I kid you not that I was legitimately cry/laughing at the prison break scene. Lastly and while this seems like an eternity ago, GOTG came out around the time that Disney bought Lucasfilm and had announced plans for a new Trilogy. Regardless of how you feel about how the movies turned out, I was cautiously optimistic on Disney’s ability to pull off a Star Wars style “space battle” but after GOTG was done, I was satisfied that it really would be no problem as the final Arial battle/dog fight in GOTG still holds up as being both exiting and fun to watch.

Pros: Overall a really nice representation of the MCU Dr Strange with a very detailed sculpt and lots of cloth looking layers and a decent enough head sculpt. There are also a number of extras including a second set of hands, the Eye of Augomoro/time stone necklace, a magic effect and his trademark cape.

Cons: ***sigh*** I’m going to sound like a broken record here, but as long as this keeps happening, I’m going to keep complaining about it: What’s the point of giving a figure an extensive articulation scheme if you can’t use it? I get that the look of a figure is super important and he looks really good, but it honestly takes a great figure and makes it frustratingly average. I also like that they included a (different) magic effect, but though this one was a touch juvenile looking, like it belonged with a Playschool toy.

[Team Jetfire]

312-2
Hasbro- Transformers- The Last Knight: Cogman.



Ok, so I’m confused as to who this is supposed to be. For those who didn’t see The Last Knight (I can’t blame you), Cogman was a human sized, rather “special’ butler to Anthony Hopkins character who we will call, Mr Exposition. For whatever reason, Mr Exposition was rich, lived in a castle, had a collection of very nice vehicles and was instrumental in helping the Autobots for reasons that I cannot recall at the moment. Anyways, as mentioned, in the film Cogman acted as a butler, but also a Driver, organist, spear fisherman and chief (don’t ask) in the movie, but never as the bianard bonded partner to a larger Transformer. Given that the toy is a vehicle of the same thing he drove in the movie, I have to wonder if the HeadMaster thing was cut from the movie? if so I would be REALLY pissed as I think that would have been a cool reveal.

Pros: I had limited desire to pick up any toys from The Last Knight, but I didn’t mind Cogman: he was an exclusive to TRU that was relatively rare, an interesting figure of the series and a Headmaster to boot. Overall looks good in both modes, has decent articulation and a relatively fun transformation. Extra points for having a seat that his head can sit in while in vehicle mode.

Cons: Unfortunately my figure had a bit of a crotch issue and his code piece just kind of broke off. I think it was a weak plastic point as it really did not take much to come off. Thankfully it still stays in place with friction in vehicle mode, but it makes we wonder about the overall plastic quality on this figure.

[Team Jetfire]

[Team Jetfire]

313-2
Jakks Pacific- Disney Afternoons: GizmoDuck.



Rating of worst to best of the a the Pixar movies continued; see review 205-2, 219-2, 231-2, 240-2, 264-2, 270-2, 285-2, 292-2, 297-2 & 303-2 for the previous instalments:

10. The Incredibles 2- it would be an interesting thought experiment to map out what Incredible 2 might have been if it was released 2-3 years after the successful first chapter. Would they have developed more on the Underminer? Perhaps worked Syndrome back in? Or even jumped forward 7-10 years to see how the family had grown as superheroes. That’s not to say that what we got was bad per se, it just felt a bit familiar to the first one, but only with Elastic-Girl at the helm. Anyways, I’ll go into more detail on my thoughts of The Incredibles 2 movie in the reviews for the Incredibles Toy Box figures which I started with Mr Incredible.

Pros: So it just dawned on me and was confirmed via the DarkwingDuck fandom site (what an amazing world we live in) that inspiration for GizmoDuck was taken from Robocop, which naturally makes me want to see an actual R rated GizmoGuck series… Anyways, another fantastic figure from Jakks made for every 80’s kid that loved these cartoon series. Great sculpt, decent articulation and they even included a stand for his little uniwheel. A definite must from any Disney afternoon, Ducktales, or Darkwing fan.

Cons: Being picky I would have loved some more articulation and accessories, but I suppose these are decent for what they are. I’m hopeful for another wave, but not sure these had the traction that Jakks was looking for.

[Robimus]

Cogman needs a little Anthony Hopkins

[Team Jetfire]

Originally Posted by Robimus

Cogman needs a little Anthony Hopkins

Agreed! A perfect time to bring back the human alliance line!

[Team Jetfire]

314-2
McFarlane Toys- The Wizarding World of Harry Potter: Lord Voldemort.




I consider myself to be a fairly big fan of Harry Potter. I’ve read the books a few times, listen to the Audio Books and know the movies pretty well inside and out. I suppose I was a bit late to the party, what with being out of school when the books were initially released, but did manage to catch the bug in the middle of the movie run and consequently around the time that my favorite book of the series: ‘The Half Blood Prince’ book was released. So when McFarlane Toys announced this line of well overdue figures, I was VERY excited to say the least. But instead of my typical “rate a movie” series, I'm going to do something a bit different that involves another one of my interests/hobbies/obsessions: Theme Parks.

For those who do not know, Universal Studios Orlando has been home a fully immersive and industry changing land called “The Wizarding World of Harry Potter” or just Harry Potter World for short and it has really changed the theme park game. Gone are the days that one ride based on a movie or a comic will do: one must experience being a wizard and given how popular it is, there is little doubt that the general population is all in and for good reason, it is cool as hell. I’ve been lucky enough to enjoy Harry Potter World a few times in Orlando throughout the years and I gotta say, it does not disappoint. I thought it might be fun to talk about one notable ride from the Wizarding World for each of these Harry Potter figures culminating in the eventual review of the newest,/greatest attraction “Hagrid's Magical Creatures MotorBike Adventure” that I’m hoping to ride in April. If you are interestested there are literally hundreds of youtube videos and websites dedicated to these lands/rides that will do a better job of talking about these rides, but these are just my silly thoughts / experiences on what I recall. Given that this is now a defunct ride (RE; Closed down and demolished to make way for Hagrid’s confusingly named ride) I thought I would start with my least favorite: Dragon Challenge (Dueling Dragons).

Dragon Challenge was a re-skinned ride that originally deputed at Universal Islands of Adventure when the park was first built. When Harry Potter land was being built, the team at Universal Creative did their best to re-theme the twin coasters to Harry Potter by including details from the Tri-Wizard Tournament throughout the cue to emulate 2 “Dragons” that were featured in The Goblet of Fire book/movie. As I understand the initial story for the ride involved a Fire and Ice Dragon “dueling” so the new theme is really not that much different. The ride itself is actually two different inverted (The Track is above you rather than below you) coasters that intertwine with multiple twists, inversions, hard banked terms and quite frankly a lot of other movements that basically turn the rider into jelly and make him rethink his life choices: seriously, I like roller coasters, but this one was really rough and basically made me feel ill for a few hours after.

For those who never got a chance to ride (or were smart enough to stay away) here is a Youtube ride though done by one of the many Theme Park Vloggers:

https://youtu.be/3t6nZ_CEMpw

Overall the ride was REALLY thrilling, but maybe a bit too much for the general population of the park. I’m glad that I got to experience it, but ultimately glad that it was removed to make way for a much better option.

Pros: It has been awhile since I have been legitimately excited about a toy line, but when McFarlane announced this line of fully poseable, 6 inch figures based on the movies from Harry Potter I was immediately sold. I suppose there had been a few lines here and there, but they never much appealed to me. There is a good chance that these were perfectly good lines, but I was just not really into other lines at that moment. In any case, I had some high hopes for McFarlane and for the most part they did not disappoint. I picked up Voldemort first as I thought he was the most interesting of the bunch. Overall the sculpt is great and captures the Dark Lord’s likness nicely. He is draped in his trademark black robes that fit and flow nicely for a 6” figure and also comes with the Elder Wand and his pet Snake/6th Horcrux Naginie that boasts some decent articulation. And speaking of articulation, the elephant in the room for all McFarlane figures, Voldemort has plenty enough to pose this figure in any way or shape that you see fit.

Cons: Honestly nothing, This is a great figure that belongs in any Harry Potter fans collection. And, while I do not know what Mcfarlane is planning, I will be really pissed if they do not continue this line; I need Dumbledore. Please Todd? PLEASE!!!

[Team Jetfire]

315-2
McFarlane Toys- Fortnite: Havok.



What year is it? 2 Mcfarlane figures in a ROW?!? Dang Todd, you have upped your game. Truth be told, I'm not even sure what is wrong with me. I don’t play Fortnite and I couldn't care less about who these characters are, but I can NOT stop buying them; they are just so much fun! Havok was my first as I wanted to see the differences between this and the Jazwares version (this will be a trend in the future) but there is just something so unique about the molds: it kinda makes toy collecting fun again. Doesn’t hurt that this is basically another unlicensed GI Joe figure in 7” form either.

Pros: Havok has a fantastic detailed sculpt, a surprisingly robust articulation scheme, multiple key accessories and a little plastic stand.

Cons: His torso is a little elongated making him look like he has a bit of a droopy crotch. It's not terribly noticeable when he is posed, but just when standing tall he looks a bit funny. I’m also not a big fan of the face as he just looks surprised, but I understand that this look is not “off brand” for Fortnite characters.