Tuesday, February 25, 2014

Spider-Man Marvel Legends Infinite Series: Black Cat, Amazing Spider-Man, Superior Spider-Man, Ultimate Green Goblin figure review


Its amazing how many Marvel Legends figures have hit in the last few months with complete series already into their variant waves and new ones ready to drop in tune to the slew of Marvel movies on the horizon. This is part two of the Marvel Legends Spider-Man series review and features Black Cat, Amazing Spider-Man, and Superior-Spider-Man (also known as SpOck because it's Doc Ock's mind in Peter Parker's body. Yeah, comic weirdness). The finished Build-A-Figure is the Ultimate Green Goblin and makes this review a bit longer than normal.

We'll start with the sculpts which are all brand new body molds with the exception of Black Cat's lower torso which the SDCC Moonstone/Satana share. Amazing Spider-Man (ASM) is a thin body with embossed webs instead of raised like the movie character. Other than the movie front/back symbols this will basically pass for your classic Spidey. He shares the special layered-plastic technique we covered before. That red and blue on his torso isn't paint, its bonded plastic. The webbing is cut in as thick lines instead of the normal thin lines leading to it looking a bit squarish. Spidey does have some rather large gaps in his hips and shoulders which allow his articulation to shine.

Black Cat's sculpt is voluptuous and full of detail with great looking fur sections and a face sculpt that's actually pretty. The hair sculpt is . Her small clawed hands look great as do her high heeled boots. It's interesting to see brand new legs and arms instead of just fur sections glued to the new female body sculpt. Superior Spider-Man (Spock) has a thinner more 'teenager' body that's all new as well. His fingertips have little grip-nubs on them and his headsculpt is a little more alien-looking than the normal Spiderman style. It appears the wrong size pins were used in his limbs as you can see the pronounced nubs sticking out of the sides. ASM fares a little better in the nub-department except you can see the red of them against the inside of the blue arms.

Articulation for ASM is downright fantastic. He can pose in almost any way you can imagine such as the classic leg-over-arm or squatting hunched. A new shoulder style has been adopted here, one with the entire shoulder free-floating on a single post instead of locked in top and bottom. This allows for him to reach straight up but leaves a large gap in the shoulder. The shoulder won't break off the post as it's thick pvc plastic but can become loose. Spock has the same shoulder style without the gap and it looks much better. Both Spider-men can cross their arms in front of them and even stand on one leg so there's some great balance in this mold.

Black Cat's articulation is decent enough but her elbows are severely hindered by the bicep sculpt and the fur cuffs, not even being able to get into a 90 degree angle unless you cut away some of the black plastic. This is due to the hinge-cup joint instead of a pin-hinge. Her torso range is excellent as are her legs, tho due to the angle of her high heeled boots her 45 deg ankle rocker isn't as useful as the other figures using this style. Black Cat's hair keeps her from looking up or down but side to side range is acceptable. Oddly enough her wrists are hinged sideways instead of up and down meaning she can't place her claws out towards anything. This was probably so she can wield the whip in a better fashion.

Paint applications for ASM are cleanly applied with most figures but check the eyes as they can be painted off-kilter. There's a nice black wash in his weblines and the layered plastic fills in the need to paint the torso. Spock's paint work is basic with a little red on primarily black plastic. The 'sloppy' lines on his face and chest are actually accurate to the comic where his costume now looks like it has true spider webs covering it in an asymmetrical style. However they're thick and some figures have missing or mis-alinged sections so check yours carefully before purchase. Black Cat's paint is nice with a clean face and great blue shadows in her fur and hair. Everything else is just black or white plastic.

Each figure comes with a few accessories. ASM and Spock have an extra pair of 'thwip' hands and parts to the Build-A-Figure. Spock's hands in general are huge and it shows with the thwip set. Black Cat has her claw-whip made from soft plastic and it looks quite neat. She also comes with the torso of the BAF. Now the reason to purchase all the figures in the set becomes clear, you can assemble the main accessory, a 9 inch tall Ultimate Green Goblin. He's based on the Avengers Walmart movie Hulk body with a reused torso and legs. He looks wicked with spikes all over his arms, horns, and those tattered Hulk pants. The fire effects are amazing looking and you'll be using them in all sorts of ways others than just clipping them to Goblin. Catch fire to everything!

Green Goblin's paint work is so-so with the spines a bit sloppily painted and no other tone of green for his skin, However the dark green works here and the flames add some color. The black flames don't really clip on like the arm flames but hang on his shoulders like a backpack of sorts. They'll fall off if you turn him upside down. Goblin's articulation is excellent, the same as Hulk's and with the new open-claws can slash at Spiderman convincingly.

So do these figures justify an out-of-pocket expense? Well, yes, especially since we haven't had a good classic Spider-Man filler or Black Cat in a long time. Superior Spider-Man could be a pass especially if you hate the new story arc but the body style is really nice and you'd be one part short of Green Goblin otherwise. Snag this set and all the other Marvel Legends Infinite series at our sponsor Big Bad Toy Store or head over to Amazon with your fingers crossed they're still at retail price. Now for some more pictures.







Tuesday, February 18, 2014

Transformers Generations Deluxe class Scoop and Armada Starscream action figure review



Transformers Generations is a line that's full of surprises especially with the introduction of Beast Wars characters and now even more characters from different series that have been 'upgraded' to Generations design. Today we're looking at Scoop with his Targetmasters and Starscream done in his Armada look. Both are Deluxe class figures and are available alongside a new wave of Voyager class figures as well. You get a comic with each one and if you've been collecting each figure from every wave the story continues with each comic.

Sculpt for Scoop is a very nicely proportioned bot with big clunky feet and a giant scoop on his back. From the back only his lower legs exhibit a hollow feeling but the area is well hidden from the sides. Flip-out hands are the newest thing it seems and this does leave the forearms hollow from the sides. Scoop's headsculpt is great and so are the little details on his chest and feet that pay homage to the original design. You even have the forearm ports so he can wield his Targetmasters as the G1 mold did, since they didn't fit in the original's hands. Fortunately Generations Scoop can hold them correctly.

Scoop has great range of motion with every joint functional aside from lacking swivel wrists or an ankle hinge. He can look up, place his hands on his hips, and even kneel due to the double knee joint that the transformation gives him.This allows for some pretty epic running or leaping poses. Scoop's paint is clean for what's there and applied solidly with no under/overspray. However the yellow paint (or yellow ABS plastic) was apparently budgeted out leaving his scoop and head orange where they had originally been yellow. It's a small price to pay and the seasoned customizer could easily spraypaint both.

Transformation for Scoop isn't overly complex but it does involve more than just the normal folding/turning motions. The result is a nifty construction loader. This form has a little issue of the front tires scooting outwards because of the small tabs used to connect it to his chestplate but other than that it's fine. The greatest thing about Scoop's alt mode is that he can drive himself. The top of the cab folds over his head like a helmet and allows him to look out his window. His accessories are his two Targetmasters just like the original G1 version had. They're very well sculpted with ball jointed shoulders and can be stacked, tho this look somewhat odd. The neat feature of these is that the handle can be removed from between their ankles giving them a better bot look. There is also an extra 5mm port hole on the handle to stack other weapons on them.

Starscream is back in his Armada look and boy does it look sweet. His headsculpt is deadly serious. The large missile ports on his shoulders can now be folded back out of the way and so can his wings. If you remember the original Armada Starscream's wings came off to become his swords, this new figure being able to replicate that look without actually removing them. His overall design is a great homage to the original.

Starscream's articulation gives him the full range you expect with the exception of only flip-up hands, no ankle pivots, or waist joint. His shoulders have a neat flip-up design with an extending yellow arm hinge to fill in the gap allowing him to slice outwards with his sword to an extreme angle. The paint work is solid and quite close to the original aside from the shoulders and chest being primarily red rather than black.l. The lightpiping for his head looks amazing and lets his orange eyes glare out.

Starscream's gimmick is the missile launchers on his shoulders. As mentioned they fold back but also have moving yellow intake sections when pressed from behind. These missiles are launched with pressure instead of a catch so when slung over his shoulders the back extends quite far. It looks funny but doesn't present any balance issues thanks to his large heels. Instead of the entire wing being removed for a sword two clear folding swords deploy from beneath the wings that Starscream can hold. They store nicely underneath and looks sharp.

Transformation is perhaps one of the simplest I've seen in a Transformer. Starscream folds in half like an upside down taco to make his bot mode...and that's about it. His arms just swing back against his body in alt mode. What's frustrating is that his nosecone is made of rubber and extends farther underneath the cockpit making up the two pegs that attach to his crotch. If these pegs were hard plastic they'd actually work as intended but as it stands they only weakly plug in allowing Starscream to unfold if the cockpit is bumped. His alt mode is a nice enough looking jet that's very close to the original. You can even swing the arms forward like the Armada one had, tho it looks much better with them tucked behind the wings out of the way.

So what's the verdict on these? Scoop is a great addition to any collection and has a solid feel to him, plenty of articulation, and a great design. Plus everyone loves construction bots I believe. You get not one but two Targetmasters as well. Starscream is dynamic looking and if you're a fan of his Armada design a definite winner. Expect a lot of seeker repaints with this mold. There's nothing major to watch out for except losing time posing these guys on your desk and possibly losing the Targetmaster's ankle handles as they can pop off pretty easily. Our sponsor Big Bad Toy Store has them as well as the next wave for preorder or you can find them on Amazon.