The Dark Knight Rises Movie Masters Bane, Batman, Alfred figure review

Batman The Dark Knight Rises is one of the more anticipated films this summer and from every Batman film spawns countless action figures. These Movie Masters figures are 6" tall and DC Universe-style articulated. We had these last two movies but there's a new twist this time, a build-a-figure. Rather a build-a-bat-signal. You need six figures to complete it and three are in this first wave which are Batman, Alfred, and Bane.

Sculpting is very detailed and sharply done on all the figures. While Alfred has a new headsculpt he shares the body with the Joker goon/Harvey Dent. Batman is the exact same sculpt as the previous release. Bane is an entirely brand new sculpt and features some fairly nice mask detail, rubbery coat, and harness straps that are all well done. I'm not sure how close it is to the movie character but he looks menacing. His layered waist belts do make him look a little rotund under the jacket however.

Paint work for Bane is excellent. There's various levels of washes on his coat, weathering on his pants/boots, and his mask/eyes look very realistic. Batman has some extra lighter gray on his costume that the last figure didn't. Alfred is cast primarily in matte black but his face is really well done and his tie has some detailed paint work on it. Be careful when choosing your figures because not all were this clean. Batman's belt seems to give problems as I saw some pretty blotchy.

Articulation for Batman and Alfred is DC Universe style allowing for most action poses. There are ankle rockers in Alfred and Batman because they use old bodies but Bane being a new sculpt doesn't have them. He is also missing bicep articulation meaning he cannot cross his arms over in front of him. His ab crunch works very well as does his ball jointed neck. Bane's jacket doesn't really get in the way of his articulation but keeps his arms from moving all the way against his sides.

There are no character-specific accessories this time around. Last figure series we had Gotham City Police evidence but this time each figure has a part to a working build-a-bat-signal. They snap together easily and so far it looks to scale. Three more figures need to be released meaning you're left with an incomplete signal for right now. At around $16 each it's going to sting getting all six especially since there's a duplicate Batman in series 3 and possibly a character you may not want.

So what's the verdict? These are highly articulated figures with premium paint applications tho you probably already own a Batman just like this. The prospect of building a working Bat-Signal may be too cool to pass up for some, especially customizers who want to swap out the movie-bat logo for a comic one to project on their ceiling. Our sponsors Big Bad Toy Store has series 3 up for preorder and will probably get series 1 and 2 in shortly. You can also find them at regular retail outlets but beware, Alfred is one per case and is snatched up right away.

Avengers Studio Series 6" movie Captain America, Loki Marvel Legends Walmart Exclusive figure review

With the Avengers a gigantic worldwide record-setting smash of a movie it's no surprise Walmart got to be the sole distributor of Marvel Legends movie figures just as they did with Thor and Captain America. Here I'll be reviewing Captain America and Loki. Thor, Iron Man, Hulk, and Hawkeye are the others in the assortment tho Iron Man is just a battle damaged repaint of the Mark VII (admittedly cool looking) and Thor is the same as the movie one with a new non-helmeted head.

Sculpt on Cap and Loki are downright beautiful. There's different levels of texture on Cap's suit from the smooth boots, matte dark blue, and cloth-like lighter blue that makes up his main uniform. His helmet wings/forehead A are raised slightly and the utility belt is a separate piece. Cap's face is spot on and stern looking. There's super fine detail on his gloves and individual tread on his boots.

Articulation for Captain America is astounding. He has a new mid-torso joint that acts as a ball joint allowing him to tilt/weave and yet it remains tight. He can look straight up, his 90 deg hip articulation allows for full movement like kneeling, and he shares the same 45 deg MU ankle joint that gives him incredible side range. His wrist swivel is located where the end of his glove where it meets the forearm allowing for a flowing sculpt.


Paint for Cap is crisp and clean but unfortunately lacking. He's primarily cast in colored plastic and unlike last year's Captain America/Thor Walmart figures that had washes and highlights these have neither. You may want to go over him with a dark blue paint wipe and shade in the red to bring out all the amazing detail. Cap's shield has straps that allow you to store it on his back, something not seen since ToyBiz's series 1 Cap. It's hard plastic and looks sharp.

Loki's sculpt is an immaculate representation of Tom Hiddleston's character with one minor flaw, he lacks the long hair that flares out behind him. I suppose this is to get the helmet to fit on perfectly, which it does, but it's noticeably missing. Loki's coat and armor is extremely detailed with the same level of texture Cap has. His gesturing right hand tho unable to hold his staff is nice for effects such as reaching out or placing it on his hip.

Loki shares the same smooth and clean paint apps but again without any extras. Sharp eyes will notice his breastplate is gold instead of grey like in the film. Articulation is quite decent and he has a nice range of hip articulation with his tunic barely hindering his legs at all. He can even sit. While Loki shares the same great 45 deg ankles he only has a cut waist and a single ball jointed neck. Loki comes with quite a bit of extras like his helmet, staff (complete with Thanos' Mind Gem instead of the cosmic cube the 3 3/4" figure staff mistakenly had) his two-piece uniform and an interlocking stand.

The nicely sculpted stands can be configured different ways, stacked or linked together. But the pegs are situated too far back causing feet to stick out over the edge in most poses. With Cap it's not as noticeable since his peg holes are at his heels but with Loki they're more in the middle of his foot. The packaging serves its purpose and displays a quick character bio as well as pictures of the rest of the members.

So what's the verdict only these highly anticipated figures? They are some of the nicest sculpts I've seen come out of Marvel Legends. The articulation is amazing tho they lack the paint app extras we saw in the previous movie lines. If you're a Marvel Legends fan or just want some great movie figures for $14.99 snag these up. Finding them may be a problem for some as they are Walmart exclusives and need to be tracked down. Our sponsor Big Bad Toy Store has a limited amount preorderable but the majority will have to be found on the pegs.

Transformers Prime Vehicon Deluxe RID Figure Review

Transformers Prime is the all-CGI show featuring everyone's favorite Autobot and Decepticons re-imagined in interesting designs. And because a little collateral damage needs to be thrown in for the bad guys the Vehicon was introduced. A clone-army type soldier it comes in two flavors, flying and ground based. Here I'm reviewing the ground based Vehicon as the jet type comes out later and will have shared parts.

Sculpting for the Vehicon mold is sharp with lots of angles and edges. The headsculpt is particularly nice and features a purple light-pipe visor that works great. I like how the chest emblem and detail is under clear plastic. Those tall shoulders give off a dangerous vibe. The arms are a bit thin and it's a shame you can't spin the leg kibble around so the tires are showing in front like they have on the show. A customizer could mod that easily however by removing the purple stop-tab.

Articulation for Vehicon is excellent. His ball neck has good range, his shoulders can spread far apart, and his strange elbow joints allow for tons of movement. His knees don't quite bend 90 deg but one can shave some of the purple plastic off behind them for more range. There's no ankle articulation but the toe does move and it allows Vehicon to step well. There's no waist either but it looks like you could add one with proper measurement and adding a ball joint under chest. He unscrews easily.

Paint apps are clean and detailed on robot mode but somewhat sparse on the vehicle. Missing are the purple grill detail we saw on the proto so get out your paint brush. He's cast in a very nice dark purple plastic that almost looks black. Transformation is magical. Like Animated Lockdown, Vehicon's legs unfold to be the whole length of the car. The back grille pushes down/folds to make the head spring up. Everything simple enough you don't even need instructions and the end result looks great without being a shellformer or gimmickformer

Vehicon's wepon is a single blaster that can be positioned in different ways. On his shoulder, holding it as a gun, or fold up his hand and lock it on to his wrist. There's tabs on either wrist for this but I can only get it to snap on to the right one as it pops off the left. Vehicle mode reminds me of the Batmobile in a big way and feels really solid despite the folding leg panels making up 80% of the car. The blaster can be attached on the side via 5mm port.

So what's the verdict? This figure is a must-buy and in multiples. He's an army-builder but packed only one per case so getting him is going to be tough. Our sponsors Big Bad Toy Store gets him in but sells out fast as does Past Generation Toys. You might have to resort to Amazon or even Ebay for him right now.

Devilman Amon re:Creatures action figure review

Devilman is a character from a Japanese horror manga and later anime. While the original design was very tame almost Mazinger-ish, Devilman started to be interpreted into more of a monster through later artists. This figure is of Amon the demon fused with the main character to create Devilman. He's made by Sen-ti-nel and is the first in the line of re:Creatures. It's a Japanese import so tracking down this figure for a decent price may be tough.

Sculpting...wow. It's like you're looking at a statue here. The sculpting is far beyond that of normal figures and has texture on it of the likes which I have never seen before. From the segmented horns to the scaly wings that transition into leathery, everything sculpted is rendered in super-high-detail. I really like the facial expressions on the two different heads and the hands are excellent in both closed and open sculpts. The bendy tail holds superb detail as well.

Paint on this figure is nothing short of amazing except for the inner joints which were left factory plastic. This may not be a big deal but in some poses you'll see the tan joints at the ankle or shoulder peeking out. Otherwise this figure has been aibrushed, washed, shaded, and has a high-end statue quality paint job to it. The base, a dead demionic turtle is just as well done both in sculpt and paint making me wish it was a separate figure. It has creepy little faces for the shell.

Amon's Articulation is quite extensive and involves multiple ball joints in the chest and waist, neck, head, shoulder hinges and ball sections, then down to the hips and feet. He can crouch, leap, and his wings are jointed along with a really cool bendy tail. Care must be taken because the hinge joints are half-joints instead of full ones. Bending them sideways will snap them easily. But this figure is more for posing than play.

Speaking of posing you get a neat sectional display stand with a mechanical jointed arm to hold him in flying position. There's included pegs to attach multiple stands together. The turtle part is an extra piece that just sits there looking neat. Amon comes with two smaller wings, extra open mouth head, green flames for the mouth, and open clawed hands. Take care to heat the plastic before attaching them as they'll be a tight fit.

The verdict? If you're a fan of the series, want a cool monster, or can even find this guy, buy it. Only Ebay seems to see him pop up as every other online site/service has him out of stock. There's a repaint version, Devilman Sull you may want to check out as well.