Prof. X looks great. Never have been a Jubilee fan, but she'd make a good base for a Dela Eden figure.

_________________

I found the new Wolverine figures at my local TRU today. And Silver Samurai just went from THIS to this:



WTF.



The figure has those large cartoony eyes that Hasbro loves so much (as seen on GIJoes, Indiana Jones, etc).



But there's actually a fair amount of detail in the sculpt.



Unfortunately, the figure is cast in that swirly metallic plastic which Hasbro uses for metallic colors.



And then of course the figure only moves at the "Big 5." But then this is becoming the standard for 4" figures these days. But then again... even 1984 MOTU figures had better range of motion than that.



A lot of the aforementioned details are left unpainted. Notably the gems on the armor, the hair at the back of the helmet, the skin on the arms, and the knots on the armor plates.



The figure is just about the same height as the MU Silver Samurai from the comic pack with Patch.



Is this the movie costume? I really like this costume design for Silver Samurai.



The new Wolvie toyline only has 4 figures on the shelf right now: Silver Samurai, Tiger stripe Wolvie, Patch Wolvie, and a Red Ninja (the black one from the Retaliation 3 pack)... all of which have been retooled to have only 5 PoA.



With a little paint, this figure can look really good on display. And I've seen people add joints to the Iron Man Assemblers figures so maybe this figure is still salvageable.

- JM

I may be a child of the '80s but I started gettng into comics in the '90s. Which means, the X-Men I know and love is not the original 5, nor the All-New, All-Different Giant Size team, nor the Outback team... My X-Men are the Blue and Gold teams as introduced and popularized by Jim Lee. Whenever I read the words "X-Men", I hear the '90s cartoon theme playing in my head.



This set is called the Uncanny X-Men Team Pack but the contents of this pack never appeared together like this. First of all, Wolverine only appeared in his brown costume for the first three issues and then quickly changed back to his tiger stripe costume. The figure from this set is a repaint of the Wolverine Origins figure in brighter, more comic-accurate colors. Plus he's got arm hairs.



The second figure in this set is Longshot. Longshot joined the X-Men sometime during the late '80s just before they went to the Outback. He's been popping in and out of the stories ever since. This figure is probably the main reason collectors will get this pack. Even though the figure reuses the Ghost Rider body with new 4-fingered hands, and a new mullet-sporting head which looks suspiciously like Valor vs Venom Duke, it's actually an accurate representation of our favorite lucky other-dimensional mutant. Although I would have prefered some of Longshot's signature throwing blades as accessories, the reused Goblin man-purse and new bandolier are enough.







For most of Hasbro's Marvel Universe Team Packs, there's usually only one desirable figure, two repaints, and an accessory. But for this set, there's a second desirable figure: '90s Rogue. This costume was introduced in the adjective-less X-Men 1 back in 1990. By then, Longshot was back in Mojoworld, and Wolvie would go back to his tiger stripe costume 3 issues later. (Although Longshot would guest star around issues 9 and 10). Rogue uses the new female standard body with the new articulation model (rotating thighs and lateral bending ankles). The headsculpt, although new, isn't as... attractive as Jim Lee drew Rogue. During the '90s, Rogue was always protrayed as a strong girl, not powerfully muscular, but still with the right curves in the right places. This new head has a very pointy jawline, which is something Rogue never had. This, combined with the slim body and the thin paint on the lips, makes the figure look like an old lady cosplaying as Rogue.







The accessory of the set is Li'l Cyke. I see no reason for his inclusion other than the Mojo-Longshot connection, and a single X-Baby is no fun. Maybe I should just buy Super Hero Squad X-Men to go with him?







Overall, still a good set despite it's shortcomings and one I'd recommend any Marvel Universe collector or X-Men fan to buy... if you can find it.

- JM

Notice howHasbro has never released a complete team in their Marvel Universe line? Even the boxed sets which supposedly contain a specific team (Avengers, Fantastic Four, X-Men, etc) never include figures of characters that appeared together as a team or in the case of the FF, we've never gotten a complete set of 4 in matching costumes. The same holds true for this X-Force Team Pack.





One of the first ever Marvel Universe figures to be released way back in 2009 was X-Force Wolverine which used the too-tall classic costume sculpt painted in black and FLAT SILVER. This figure uses the better-scaled Wolverine Origins Astonishing mold but painted in black and GRAY. The thick straps around the gloves and boots may be comic-accurate but the painted over costume details like the stripes are not. Neither are the shoulder pads. Wolverine's X-Force costume has the plain V-shaped design running down from his shoulders to his waist just like the classic brown costume. No shoulder pads and definitely no colored over stripes.







The second figure is one that has been released before in 2010. Warpath was figure #003 back then and colored black and SILVER with a blue and red X-Men variant. This time around the figure is colored black and GRAY. What I don't understand is the need for Hasbro to spend for new paint masks. Yes, you read that right. Even though this is supposed to be the exact same character in the exact same costume, Hasbro made new paint masks so now the figure has straight edged striped as opposed to the curved stripes the original figure had. I see no need to change the paint masks since straight-edged stripes aren't more accurate to the source material than the curved ones are.





And now the for the single "new" figure of this set: Deadpool. But the figure isn't really new either. It's a repaint of the Wolverine Origins Deluxe Deadpool in black and GRAY. If this was the reason anyone bought this set, that would have been fine. But the figure's colors only match the other figures in this set. Since all the other single-carded X-Force figures are done in black and SILVER. Also, remember how I said at the start of this review that Hasbro has never released a complete team pack with members that appeared together? Wolverine may be a mainstay of the Uncanny X-Force team. But Warpath has never appeared alongside Deadpool. Deadpool came in when they started using the "Uncanny" in the tile. And by that time, Warpath and X-23 were gone. Archangel left the team about a year later. So even if you get all the "X-Force" figures in the Marvel Universe line, you still don't have a complete team in matching colors or with a compete roster from a specific time period.

The new Retaliation figures have started to hit Philippine retail and I snagged two of them: Firefly and of course, Kwinn.



Most people were disappointed with the first Retaliation Firefly because of the Battle Luge, the light up arms, the lack of articulation, and the somewhat bright colors. So most people opted to wait for this "Ultimate" Firefly which was supposedly more screen-accurate.



But looking closely at this figure now that I have it in hand, I see that it isn't screen-accurate at all.



Sure the colors might be closer to the muted colors of Ray Stevenson's costume, but the figure doesn't have the intricate snakeskin pattern and the tribal designs that the movie costume has.



And since the figure re-uses the Rise of Cobra Storm Shadow torso and Snake Eyes arms and legs, the design is far from what was seen on screen.



The plus side is that the figure comes with some great accessories such as the Marauders shotgun, Snake Eyes' backpack (now with tampographed Cobra sigil!), the standard Rise of Cobra pistol (which can be holstered), Cobra Commander's Dustbuster hand-held vaccuum cleaner, and two knives (one of which can be sheathed)!



Most collectors will also love the missile-launching drone (Micro HISS) which is included with the figure, although for collectors here in the Philippines, this is nothing new, since we actually have the boxed Pursuit of Cobra Cobra Commander available at Toys R Us.



The included instruction sheet says that the Micro HISS treads should be assembled with the shorter sides pointing upwards, but every HISS since 1983 has had those treads with the long side up, so that's how I'm assembling mine.



So what's the verdict? Well, it's not the "ultimate" Firefly everyone wanted. That honor is still held by the Retaliation 3-pack version. It's not a screen-accurate Retaliation version either. Turns out the first version with Firefly's killjar is still more accurate. What this figure is, is a great stand-alone figure which works as more of a concept figure which blends the Retaliation and classic versions together.



- JM

Ah yes, the infamous Kwinn. It seems Kwinn has a reputation both as a comic character and as a figure.



Personally I never liked Kwinn as a comic character. I never figured out what it was about the Eskimo agent that fans liked so much. Sure, he beat Snake Eyes once or twice, but so what? Snake Eyes got captured almost every other story arc or so.



And he was ugly. I mean really ugly. You know how artists in the 80's would draw villains as grotesque? Yeah, Kwinn was drawn that way. You could still tell he was an Eskimo though, with his stocky build and all.



The figure doesn't quite capture that image though. The figure is still stocky and muscular at the same time but the face isn't quite right. It's more detailed than the 2004 version, but doesn't look like the old comic artwork.



Still, the figure's got the safari getup Kwinn wore when he wasn't up in the arctic. Only this time, the figure's alot more detailed than the old comicbook art. You can see pockets, pouches, seams, folds, hemlines, etc.



And since this figure was originally meant for the 30th Anniversary lineup, there's a ton of accessories included.



Most of the accessories such as the weasel skull necklace, revolver, sniper rifle, poleaxe, and bear trap are all reused from previous figures.



But there are new ones too, such as the shotgun, the hand axe, the spiked club, the belt, and the vest. I have to wonder though, the vest is a modern load-bearing design, which was not part of the original comic artwork, and wasn't in use by the military back in the day. Does this mean the vest (or maybe the figure) will be reused in the future?



Also of note is the inclusion of Lowlight's functional backpack. Hasbro could have just included the backpack as is, but they actually tampographed tiny detailed tribal designs on it!



The figure also comes with two .50 cal. ammo belts and Roadblock's M2 (one ammo belt to sling over his shoulder like in the comics, and one to feed the gun). The problem with that is, Kwinn never used an M2. Kwinn used a .30 cal. machinegun!



So, does the figure live up to the hype? Yes, it does! I may not be a fan of the character, but it's still a great figure with lots of play and display value. And, this is also the second GIJoe figure ever to have shorts! The first was Valor VS Venom Alpine (repaints don't count).



- JM

You know a toyline is on it's last legs when an entire wave is absent from mass retail, multiple waves shipping at once, and the product gets better. The exact thing has happened with Hasbro's Marvel Universe.



There has been an Ultimate Rhino released for the Spider-Man toyline before and was repainted without the removable armor pieces in a Marvel Universe comic pack alongside Spider-Man, but that figure had pre-posed legs and no knee articulation so there wasn't much you could do with it. This Rhino figure uses a newly sculpted body which is accurate to the 616 version of the character.



Despite being a large figure, the new body has the same articulation model as the new standard sized body, the only thing missing is the hinged-peg neck joint which prevents the figure from looking straight up, or straight forward when in a running pose. But even then, a large character like Rhino doesn't need to be put in wild poses like, say, his nemesis Spider-Man.



Rhino is molded entirely in gray plastic but also has dry brushed light gray highlights on the ventral area of the torso. Of course the face is also painted but as with almost all other MU figures, the eyes and nose are parts to watch out for.



Rhino doesn't come with any accessories nor does the figure need any. Maybe a bent steel bar like the one that came with Luke Cage? Or a broken wall like the old Marvel Legends bases, but you know MU has never had any of those.



In the end, there isn't much you can do with the figure. All the joints may be present but the size prevents the figure from being posed much. It doesn't matter though, since Rhino doesn't do much in the comics anyway aside from running around smashing into things.



- JM

While the Avengers movie line has been rebranded into the Avengers Assemble cartoon line and Marvel Universe will be rebranded into just plain Avengers (followed by X-Men in 2015), Hasbro has released two of their most creative repaints of the entire Marvel Universe line.



The Marvel Universe line has started to follow the lead of the larger Marvel Legends line, releasing "dual" figures, variant figures of different characters which share the same cardback. Abomination and A-Bomb were released as one of these.



While I've known Abomination to be one of the Hulk's enemies for the longest time, I've only known about A-Bomb from the Hulk and the Agents of SMASH cartoon series. Aparently, it turns out A-Bomb is Rick Jones, the teenager Bruce Banner saved when he was exposed to Gamma rays. Now, Jones has been exposed himself and has turned into a blue version of Abomination.



In the cartoon, A-Bomb turned into some kind of big blue scaly armadillo-Hulk and could roll up into a spiked ball. And in the comics, Abomination was variously portrayed as a gigantic frog, a green Etrigan, or a fat Mer-Man. Both characters though were usually portrayed as having segmented skin or armor. The figures don't have that though as they are made from the Marvel Universe Rhino mold which was not segmented nor scaly but rather wrinkly and warty. The only difference being the two newly sculpted heads and the spiky segmented forearms for A-Bomb



Both Abomination and A-Bomb have even less paint applications than Rhino, with the only paint being on their faces.



While both figures are a very clever reuse of the Rhino sculpt, just like the base figure, there isn't much you can do with them too, which is a shame since both characters do more than just run around smashing into walls.



- JM

It's no secret that I grew up and love Jim Lee's X-Men. And one of the villains introduced during that era was Omega Red.



This Marvel Universe Omega Red figure uses the new tall buck first seen on Cable and it suits the character perfectly. As one of the newly introduced sculpts, it has the new articulation model. Unfortunately, Omega Red's hinged-peg wrist joints are hindered by the non-removable tentacles.



Omega Red's signature tentacles are molded from semi-rigid plastic and are non-removable. In the comics (and the various cartoon portrayals), Omega Red's tentacles could retract into his forearms and if I remember correctly, the original ToyBiz figure back in the day had sliding tentacles and the Marvel Legends version had removable and bendy tentacles. This Marvel Universe figure has non-bendy ones so they aren't really that poseable.



Omega Red is mostly cast in red plastic with the "skin" portions painted in flat white with a blue wash applied. The silver parts are cast in white plastic with pearl white paint applied to them. The metallic red is also achieved by painting pearl specks over a red base. With the exception of his appearances in Capcom's video games, Omega Red's harness and boots have always been silver, not pearl white.



I'm well aware that making the tentacles bendy would have made them too thick. And making them removable would have made the attachment point too flimsy. Making them slide, would have made the forearms too thick. So I guess Hasbro had no other choice.



This was one figure I was really looking forward to. But the paint and the largely unusable tentacles left me very disappointed.



- JM

It's Deadpool! And the entire Deadpool Corps! And they come in taco blister packs! All lined up inside a taco truck box! What more could you ask for???





















- JM

so much to love in every one of these figures... I only have the DPC set and it's thanks to Crownover, I need all the rest of those still.

Dammit. I never saw that Omega Red, and I wanted one.

_________________

Available exclusively from 2013's New York Comic Con, Hal Jordan and Saint Walker comprise the fifth boxed set of DC Collectibles Con

Exclusive line of DC Super Heroes consisting of various Green Lanterns and related characters.



The first set consisting of Kyle Rayner (sculpted by Robert Lynders) and Kilowog (sculpted by Josh Sutton) was released back in 2012's

San Diego Comic Con where the rest of the line was also revealed via an impressive Central Power Battery diorama. The second set,

from 2012's New York Comic Con, included John Stewart (sculpted by Robert Lynders) and Atrocitus (sculped by Paul Harding). The

third set, available from 2013 Wondercon and C2E2, featured Guy Gardner and Larfleeze (both sculpted by Robert Lynders). San Diego

Comic COn 2013 saw the fourth set which included four figures: Green Lantern Sinestro and Dex-Starr (sculpted by Robert Lynders)

and Arkillo and Black Hand (sculpted by Phil Ramirez).



This set has both Hal Jordan and Saint Walker sculpted by Robert Lynders and have impressive detail for such a small scale: all the

seams of the costume details are sculpted as well as features such as the lines on Saint Walker's head and face. Unfortunately, the

Lantern logos are not sculpted on the rings of both figures unlike the rings of the three previously released human Lanterns.



All figures in the line share the same articulation model: ball joint for the head; pseudo-ball two-axis hinge for the shoulders, chest

and upper part of the knees; rotating pegs for the biceps, wrists, lower legs; single hinge for the abdomen, elbows, lower part of the

knees, and ankles.



The figures are made in true 3.75" scale. While they might seem small compared to modern GI Joes, and Marvel Universe figures, one has to remember that Hasbro's figures have been slowly growing larger over the years with some "human" Marvel Universe figures closing in on the 5" mark. Most other lines have remained in the 3.75" scale (Mattel's DC Infinite Heroes and Multiverse; Playmates' Star Trek and Terminator; WWE; Mortal Kombat; etc).



The paint across the entire line is top notch and the candytone colors used are much much better than Hasbro's attempt in the Iron

Man 2 line, despite Arkillo having pearl yellow and Hal Jordan having flat metallic green instead of the candytone green used on the

other Green Lanterns. Interestingy, the black parts of the costumes also have inconsisenly applied glitters with John Stewart ending

up with the largest amount of glitters.



The set comes with only one accessory: Hal Jordan's giant fist construct. Previous sets have been inconsistent with which construct

accessories they included: Kyle Rayner's blaster, John Stewart's sniper rifle, Atrocitus' energy blast, Guy Gardner's baseball bat,

Larfleeze's Glomulus, Sinestro's sword, and Black Hand's energy blast. The number of included accessories is not the only

inconsistency though, it's also the color and type of pastic used: John Stewart's sniper rifle is soft and bendable and is bordering on

yellow, and Guy Gardner's baseball bat, while not as yellow is still much lighter than Hal's fist. Sinestro's sword is the darkest green,

almost opaque although all three green constructs are made of brittle plastic.



A word of warning though, all reports seem to indicate that these figures are very fragile and prone to breakage. The reason? DC Collectibles uses a brittle transparent plastic for the ball and stick pieces on the ball and socket joints and the hinged peg pieces for the shoulders. Almost all my figures had broken parts as soon as I pulled them out of the packaging: Kyle Rayner's bicep, Atrocitus' shoulder, Larfleeze's knee, Glomulus' hund leg, and Black Hand's leg. The good news is that DC Collectible's mass market line, Injustice: Gods Among Us (based on the game of the same name) is much sturdier with none of my figures breaking... so far.



So, is the line worth getting? If you're a Latern fan, definitely. If you're a DC fan, maybe. As a casual fan, no.



- JM

Years ago, Michael Lane was part of a program to create the ultimate crime fighter. Instead, it turned him into an insane criminal.

Thwarted by Batman, Michael confessed his sins to a priest of the secret religious sect, the Order of Purity. They recruited Michael to

fight evil as their crusader Azrael, wearing the mystical Suit of Sorrows and wielding the Sword of Sin. If Michael does not keep his soul

pure, the Suit of Sorrows will destroy him.



Yeah. For me, Azrael will always be Jean-Paul Valley. Besides, I haven't played Arkham City long enough to see Azrael.



Azrael here is part of Mattel's new DC Multiverse toyline. The first wave is comprised of characters from the Batman: Arham series of

video games: Arkham City Batman, Armored Batman, Mr Freeze, Azrael, and Arkham Origins Bane and Deadshot.



When the series was first announced, alot of DC fans rejoiced that we'd finally be geting detailed and fully articulated 4" (1:18) figures

of DC charactersas opposed to Mattel's previous attempt, Infinite Heroes.



But now with the figures in hand, it's obvious that this is still the same line, only rebranded, as much as Hasbro's Marvel Infinite Series

is just a rebranding of Marvel Universe.



The stumpy proportions of the figures are still evident with wide torsos, short stocky arms, and those HUGE C-shaped hands!



The articulation is still basically the same as the OLD DCIH model but with the addition of thigh cuts for rotation right above the knee,

and those two axis-T-crotch joints from the larger DC figures. Why Mattel didn't just use the newer DCIH articulation model with the

pseudo-ball joints is beyond me.



The paint quality on Azrael is a little thick, obscuring some of the detail, but then again, the sculpts in the line are soft to begin with ie,

Batman's armor seamlines seem very shallow and inconsistent.



ALready in the first wave alone, we have a complete figure repaint. Armored Batman, despite having a completely different armor plate

configuration from the regular Batman is nothing more than a repaint of the regular Batman. Which means, there are panel lines

painted over smooth surfaces, and painted armor plates over sculpted panel lines!



The second wave has started to show up and is comprised of characters from the Burton Batman and Donner SUperman movies. As a

Batman fan, the masked and unmasked Batman figures are must-buys for me, as for the rest? I'll have to wait and see.



- JM

Born without superhuman powers, this mercenary has turned herself into one of the world's most feared master of martial arts.



It's about time we got a 4" Elektra figure! Released in 2013 as part of the 5th wave of Hasbro's Marvel Universe line, the previous 4" Elektra was from ToyBiz' Marvel Superhero Showdown line and that one just looked plain... ugly.



This new Elektra uses the new female medium body previously used on X-23. And that is where the problem lies. These new female bodies (small on Jubilee, medium on X-23, and large on She-Hulk) have EXTREMELY LOOONG lower legs!



The new articulation model doesn't neccessarily improve on the previous one either. Despite having additional, thigh and shin swivels, and two-axis hinged feet, the legs are still very difficult to pose, as a result the figure always ends up looking unnatural with an awkward posture. By the way, this type of foot joint is NOT a rocker ankle as everybody calls it. Rocker ankles, just like rocker bottom feet simulate the shape and movement of a rocking chair. You can't rock with these joints, they give lateral (side-to-side) movement at the ankles.



On the plus side? The face and head sculpt is very good with Elektra looking both dangerous and beautiful at the same time. The hands are sculpted with a separate index finger although a separate middle finger is needed to realistically hold the included sai. The sai are also completely new sculpts and not the ones included with Storm Shadow.



Paint work on the figure is only found on the face and the arm and leg wraps thus minimizing the potential for paint errors.



Elektra was high on the list of most-wanted figures for many people and finally Hasbro delivered. The problems with the figure are due to the new female body so expect the same problems to be present on every other figure using the new female body and even the small and larger versions.

- JM