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

[Team Jetfire]

369-2
McFarlane Toys- DC Multiverse: Batman



Continuing my quest to re-watch all the DC Animated features to date and give some thoughts regarding 3 key touchpoints: Animation Style, Voice Acting & Story. These are really just rough notes as I watched the movie and might not make a whole lot of sense unless you have recently watched it. See 290-2, 303-2, 318-2, 331-2, 344-2 & 358-2 for my previous instalments.

Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths. 2010

Animation style- Right from the jump the animation style is way better than Superman Batman: Public Enemies and it feels more like the Wonder Woman and Green Lantern movies as well as the other TV animated pictures of the time.

Voice acting- Where the animation is better, the choice of voice actors is lacking this time. I think that was to distance it from the animated Timm Verse shows, but these casting choices are just a bit off for my liking. Batman is played by the 3rd most famous of the brothers: William Baldwin (Backdraft) who actually does an alright job but is no Kevin Conroy. Superman is played by Mark Harmon (NCIS) and seems way too abrasive for my likes. I get that Superman is not always a nice guy, but he’s a bit of a jerk in this movie. Chris North (Law and Order & Sex In the City) does pretty well as Lex luthor. As for others rounding out the cast Josh Keaton (Spiderman from the awesome Spectacular Spiderman Series) plays the Flash, Gina Torres (Star Wars Rebels and Transformers Prime) plays Super Girl and rounding out the WTF choice: James Woods for Owl Man; I mean, he is a bit of a super villain IRL? Maybe his role of Owl Man went to his head. Jokes aside, I do love his voice which is too bad as he is a crazy person.

Story- Based on a 2 part comic series of Justice League of America, Crisis on Two Earths is a relatively classic role reversal story featuring Lex Luthor as the leader of a different dimension’s Justice League who is trying to take down evil versions of the hero’s that we all know and love. Using an inter dimensional portal gun, he enlists the help of our Justice League (well, the normal, comic accurate JL anyways) and eventually saves the day. For me, the most enjoyable part of a movie like this is to see all the new good and bad versions of the good characters that we are familiar with. Thankfully they took sometime with it and didn’t just give Superman a goatee to denote “bad guy”. That said, I would have liked to see more of the “good” villains aside from Lex and Jester (Joker). As with Superman Batman: Public Enemies, Crisis features a lot of side characters including Cheshire, Black Lighting (good and bad), Red Tornado and my fave: Firestorm. Lastly I liked seeing Batman and Owlman (Bad Batman) face off and felt that it was really interesting that of all the good/bad pairs Batman and Owlman were the most similar. If THAT doesn’t tell you that Batman is a bad day away from becoming a super villain, I don’t know what will.

Pros: If you told me 3 years ago that McFarlane Toys would be producing well-articulated action figures based on DC Comic hero’s I would call you a damn dirty liar and spit in your stupid face, but here we are. I’ll be honest, when I first heard that McFarlane got the licence I had mixed emotions. Happy that it was taken from Mattel, a company that has been doing subpar releases for years and given to a company that has a fantastic history of producing quality detailed figures, but a bit worried given that the same fantastic history does not include articulation; something that is a must for figures in this day and age. Lucky for us, McFarlane had relaxed their views on the articulation with previous lines like Star Trek and Fortnite and has suited it well to the world of DC. Overall I think McFarlane has done a really good job with DC’s dark knight; he is nicely sculpted figure with a familiar modern Batman look featured in Detective Comics #1000 has standard McFarlane articulation that works for some decent poses and comes with a few character specific accessories as well as a stand. Lastly I want to commend McFarlane for keeping the price point lower at $25. This might be a small difference, but given the stuff that Hasbro is churning out wave over wave at $5 more, I really appreciate this little price difference.

Cons: I feel that most of the issues that I have with Batman, I’m going to have with the rest of the McFarlane DC figures: The ball joints for the ankles and wrists are a bit of a pain to work with and the hip joints do really have enough movement to work well as a thigh swivel. Lastly his grapple gun rope is made from soft plastic and starts to droop over time.

[Team Jetfire]

Originally Posted by fjieuks

I checked out the Combiner Wars series on YouTube to see Wingblade in action and it is bad, like REALLY bad; makes me wish for the days of Energon and that is saying something. Sure, it’s nice that Hasbro developed a series to showcase these figures in action, but this looked like a poorly done student project. It’s a bit unfortunately given that The Transformers brand was built on cartoons and while I recognize that Rescue Bots and Robots in Disguise is a thing, it's really geared to younger kids. Is it too much to ask for a show as well produced as Transformers Animated?

I could not agree more. I suppose for better or worse, the movies became the new "cartoon" making it less important for Hasbro to put a bunch of money into cartoons.

I also watched about 30 seconds in total of Combiner Wars, Rescue Bots and RID and felt the same. The one outlier that I'm still behind on is Transformers Prime and from what I've seen its decent, but still probably does not hold a candle to Animated. There is also that new Netflix series that I guess is coming out eventually soon, so there is still hope! You can check out the trailer here:

https://youtu.be/KZRtbcB3XfA

[Team Jetfire]

370-2
Hasbro- GI Joe Sigma Six: Snake Eyes





I’ve often praised Hasbro for the Sigma Six line of figures for being detailed action figures that are both fun to pay with and enjoyable to collect. However one thing that bothered me was their tendency to release multiple versions of the same character. This practice is fairly typical now, what with all the Batman, Spiderman and Bumblebee figures that have taken over the toy isles, but GI Joe, what with their massive roaster of unique figures, never seemed to suffer that fate prior to S6 anyways. At any rate, with the help of yojoe.com, I added up all the Sigma style versions of the characters and came up with some easy front runners. Duke and Storm Shadow tied for second having 8 versions a piece, but was handily beaten by Snake Eyes who topped the charts at 13. Now, a few of these were repaints released with vehicles or parachutes, but that is still a staggering number considering most characters only got one or two versions. Unfortunately it also doesn’t look like things are going to change and Snake Eyes will continue to be the face of the brand (ironic) what with the new solo movie coming out eventually.

Pros: As far as Snake Eyes figures goes, this one is really great. He has a bit of a different look decked out in green with green pants to match. He also comes with a few different face masks and unique weapons that I have not seen included with other versions. Lastly he comes with a large shield/weapon thingy that has some fun play value.

Cons: While I don’t really mind that this is Snake Eyes, it could have easily been any other “jungle Based” GI Joe character, so I feel it is a bit of a wasted opportunity. Outside of that, I only have the typical issues with the figure including the limited articulation and the unrealistic weapons.

[Team Jetfire]

371-2
DC Collectables- DC Icons: Swamp Thing




Continuing my quest to re-watch all the DC Animated features to date and give some thoughts regarding 3 key touchpoints: Animation Style, Voice Acting & Story. These are really just rough notes as I watched the movie and might not make a whole lot of sense unless you have recently watched it. See 290-2, 303-2, 318-2, 331-2, 344-2, 358-2 &369-2 for my previous instalments.

Batman: Under the Red Hood 2010
Animation Style- Overall the animation has a nice fluid look, but has an stylized or almost cartoonish feel to it that almost reminds me of GI Joe Sigma Six action figures due to their enlarged hands and chunky feet. The animation designs for all the key players is good and every key character is sporting a fairly traditional look. One minor issue I have is with Nightwing’s hair. This is not to say that I’m asking for the mullet from the Animated Series, I just think it should be a bit longer.

Voice acting- Really strong across the board even if it changes up some of the previous choices. Bruce Greenwood (of Star Trek Captain Pike fame) does well as Batman and Bruce, Jensen Ackles (from Supernatural) does a great job as newcomer Red Hood and Neil Patrick Harris (from everything) is a fantastic choice for Nightwing. John DiMaggio (of Bender fame) worked alright as Joker, but not my favorite as it gives him a bit too deep of a voice. For interesting casting choices there is Jason Isaacs (Lucius Malfoy from the Harry Potter movies) makes an appearance as Ra’ Al Ghul; NEAT!

Story- I’ve often toted UTRH as easily one of the best DC Animated features released and after another re-watch it is easy to see why: It just does everything so well. The flashbacks throughout provide some amazing backstory for those unaware that there even was a second Robin and the prologue with Jason’s death was just brutal. I could really go into a lot of detail as to why this movie is the greatest, but to save me from writing 40 pages breaking down each scene I will just suggest that you watch it yourself. One thing that I will say is that this Animated feature, this cartoon, this “children’s preferred media” has one of the most heart wrenching emotional scenes that I have even seen in a movie and really should be a wakeup call to anyone who thinks cartoons are not on the same level as live action movies.

Pros: Another DC Collectible DC Icons release and another review praising them for an AMAZING figure. The detail on the sculpt is unreal with so many little details throughout. The articulation is similar with all the other Icons and he even comes with some extra hands and possibly the most messed up, creepy looking mutant head thing that I have ever seen.

Cons: I’m not a big Swamp Thing fan so his inclusion in the Icons series before some of the figures that I would have liked to see is a bit of a bummer. He is also a bit light on accessories and would have benefited from some swamp effects? Also, WTF is with that hand head thing?

[Team Jetfire]

372-2
Hasbro- Transformers Reveal the Shield: Laser Optimus Prime.



Quick, somewhat relevant story about Robots in Disguise Scourge that was a basic repaint of the original G2 Laser Optimus Prime figure that was released back in the early 90’s. To set the stage, I was a massive fan of the 2001 RID series/toys and was completely crushed when I found out that Scourge, a massive figure throughout the series, was going to be a Toys R Exclusive. Nowadays the exclusives tend to make their way up to Canada, but back then I was never really sure and was really upset at the potential that I may not get this super cool figure. Thankfully my Brother in law was taking a trip to LA and was kind enough to pick one up for the 22 year old toy collector that was married to his sister; so insane that I even asked. At any rate, if memory serves Canada eventually got the figure, but mine was always a little extra special.

Pros: Due to his similarity to Scourge I was really looking forward to this figure and really still love the overall design in both modes. Transformation between modes is decent, articulation is good with bonus points for ankle tilts and I like that they included the sword from his G2 release.

Cons: Overall the mold has some inherent issues including some arm kibble from a poorly placed panel and the whole shoulder assembly is one piece so every time he lifts his arm the shoulder cannons tilt back too.

[Team Jetfire]

[Team Jetfire]

373-2
McFarlane Toys- Fortnite: Cuddle Team Leader.



Kudos to Mcfarlane for releasing a female body type in the first assortment of Fornite figures, something that their competitors took some time with. It's always surprising to me that even in this day and age that some toy companies shy away from production and release of female characters. Many male collectors, such as myself, want figures of their favorite female characters, but there are a whole lot of female collectors, gamers and fans that would love something different than another Barbie doll. Thankfully this thread has turned around in recent years what with many companies filling lines with all our favorite characters regardless of their sex. Now if someone could get cracking on a Legends of Korra line that would be great.

Pros: I have absolutely no reference for Fortnite characters and still do not play the game, but CTL seems like a perfect example for what it is all about: pure insane silliness, which I suppose is part of the charm and something that I have come to appreciate of the various Fortnite releases. Macfarlane has predictably does a fantastic job with the female form sculpt and did well to capture all the little furry details of her suit, while also providing a good amount of articulation. She comes with two weapons that could not be more different in tone: An very serious and realistic looking Automatic rifle and a whimsical unicorn head pick; well done designer, well done.

Cons: While I appreciate the McFarlane articulation scheme, I just feel that those ankle ball joints need some work. Outside of that, CTL is rather top heavy which puts a lot of strain on those unfortunate ankle joints.

[Team Jetfire]

374-2
Disney Toybox- Disney Classics: Maui



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, 313-2, 320-2, 325-2, 333-2, 341-2, 347-2 & 360-2 for the previous instalments:

3. Ratatouille.

There are a number of reasons why Ratatouille is number 3 on my list. First it reminds me of a time in my life when things were easier. Not to sound too melodramatic, but my life back in those days were (seamingly) a lot more carefree; never underestimate the power of nostalgia folks! Secondly, I think it fantastically exemplifies how great Pixar is at storytelling and once again proves that characters do not need to be “live action” inorder for the viewer to care about them. Thirdly, I think the story is brilliant in a lot of ways and has a great message. Sure, it's not like a rat is going to start cooking, but might strike a chord with someone who doesn't exactly fit in and eventually breaks down barriers to do what they love. And lastly it has one of my favorite lines of all cinema, spoken by Anton Ego, that I feel perfectly exemplifies how consumers / critics work to effectively ruin the very art that they appratenly love:

In many ways, the work of a critic is easy. We risk very little, yet enjoy a position over those who offer up their work and their selves to our judgment. We thrive on negative criticism, which is fun to write and to read. But the bitter truth we critics must face, is that in the grand scheme of things, the average piece of junk is probably more meaningful than our criticism designating it so.

Pros: Overall Maui is a fantastic figure that I feel does the character justice. He has a great sculpt with a massive amount of detail that captures not only his size and personality, but also his tattoos. The figure itself is sizable, but still has a decent amount of articulation and he also comes with a separate necklace and his giant majical hook.

Cons: Toybox tends to limit some of the articulation on these lager figures so some of the possibility is limited. Also, his hard atic hair gets in the way of him moving his neck.

[Team Jetfire]

375-2
Hasbro- Black Series: Luke Skywalker (ROTJ)



Rating of worst to best of the Star Wars movies continued; see reviews 215-2, 218-2, 221-2, 241-2, 245-2, 247-2, 266-2, 272-2, 293-2, 299-2, 321-2, 327-2, 348-2, 352-2 & 354-2 for the previous instalments:

6. Star Wars: The Last Jedi.
The Bad- Even though The Last Jedi ranks pretty high on my list, there are still some things that I take issue with and they are certainly not unlike any other criticisms that I have heard. First issue I have was the timing of the events in the movie. Why they decided to pick up right where they left off, especially with a new director and writer makes no sense whatsoever. I realize that this would have changed the entire narrative of the story, but I would have been fine with this as I did not like the “slow chase” main story line. I’m not going to go into too much detail as I’m sure there were “reasons” for why they couldn’t just lightspeed closer to the rebel base, or another friendly system, but it just seems like a waste of time that literally went nowhere.
And speaking of a waste of time, the whole subplot with Finn and Rose to find the master code breaker could have been eliminated entirely. I suppose seeing a new “Star Wars” world is always interesting, but again, it had little impact on anything. However I did find it somewhat funny that their entire mission was sidelined by an overzealous resident upset with a parking violation. That said, I thought they would have introduced Lando as either the code breaker or to take over from Deejay, but I’m not sure Billy Dee was up to it at the time.
Additional to that, I feel that Poe, a character that I loved from The Force Awakens, was wasted. Not only did he come off as a terrible squad leader (responsible for the destruction of the entire bombing fleet), but also indirectly responsible for the death of even MORE resistance members by letting Rose and Finn go on their mission. The only thing I did like was his attempted mutiny, and even that he messed up.
And finally, speaking of Resistance members, Admiral Holdo should not have been a character in this movie. I have nothing against Laura Dern, but her inclusion and subsequent death in the movie was really jarring. Like why do we care about this character? Why should we care about her sacrifice? In my humble opinion I think it should have been Admiral Ackbar or maybe even Leia as it would have carried much more weight.
Time will tell how this move will age, especially with any new series coming out, but given how ROS did its best to regularize any “meaningful” change that Rian Johnsen tried to include to the Star Wars mythos I’m sure that it will just be forgotten as a blip in a massive, growing franchise.
Pros: Luke Skywalker from The Return of the Jedi, or just Jedi Luke for short, has been a favorite of mine since I saw him on screen all those years ago and it's pretty easy to see why. A badass all black outfit, one black glove covering a robotic hand and of course a game changing GREEN lightsaber that we had never seen before. Luckily Hasbro has done a good job in capturing these details for us fans. The figure also has an ok amount of articulation, his trademark green lightsaber and a switchable tunic panel that emulates his costume progression though the film: buttoned up to look formal, unbuttoned for MILLER time.
Cons: I kind of wish that Hasbro gave us a bit more accessories like extra fists or a cloak as seen at the beginning of Return of the Jedi. Additionally in this day and age, single jointed elbows are almost inexcusable. Lastly, and I’m not sure that this was a common issue of the day, but the plastic between the knee joints is super gummy and makes me worried that it will warp or break down over time. Good thing I do not play with my figures...

[Team Jetfire]

376-2
Hasbro- Marvel Legends: Daredevil.



It's hard to believe that there was a Daredevil movie released before an Iron Man movie, a Thor Movie and a (real) Captain America movie, but that was the world in the early to mid 2000’s: the wild west of comic based movies. And you know what? It really was not that bad for the time. I think Affleck was a good choice for the titular character, Jennifer Garner was a great Electra and Colin Firth made an amazing bullseye; so what went wrong? Unfortunately I think it just boiled down to the fact that Daredevil was not a strong enough character to support a franchise and the movie was not tied to anything else. Does that mean that Daredevil is a bad character? I don’t think so and this is supported by how the Netflix series was embraced. That said I think that some characters like DareDevil need a bit more time to grow with ppl as his background story is less known than some of the heavy hitters.

Pros: Overall DD is a great looking figure that has a good proportions for the character, a beautiful paint scheme that really pops, a decent amount of articulation, and his trademark batons with a pouch to hold them in.

Cons: Unfortunately due to the BAF I had to pay some aftermarket prices for him, but that is really my own fault for passing him over so many times at retail.








Hey Daredevil! How about a picture for all your fans?


Umm, over here big guy.


It’s ok, I'm sure that could happen to anyone.