Michelangelo
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Super7) - Ultimates!
Rated 4.90 stars by RMaster007
Man, the first month of 2022 isn’t over yet and I already got four new Super7 TMNT figures? That’s definitely a sign of addiction. I mentioned in my April review that I was waiting on two more to arrive from BBTS, and they arrived not too long after. And then I happened to find another figure at the same place I got April. Time to review one of my latest additions, Michelangelo, the party loving turtle. The packaging is same as the rest of S7’s ultimates, so no point in talking about the same thing, but the sculpt is also mostly reuse as well, with the only differences being the head and belt. Michelangelo has two different head options, just like the previous two turtles, with a classic and modern portrait. However, I don’t really like the modern head. While it’s a happy expression...[See More]

Trigore
Power Lords (Revell) - Basic Series
Rated 4.00 stars by Karl T. Face
Wayne Barlowe is fairly high on my list of artists. Having grown up reading his Guides again and again, I was thrilled to find out he'd designed a whole toyline, including this childhood favorite. This led me to jump pretty excitedly on a boxed specimen when it turned up, much to the joy of the seller, who was understandably worried nobody would recognize it, much less want it. Many fond memories, tempered by the physical presence of it, allow for a pretty thorough review without undoing the twist ties. Here we go! Firstly, the design. Grotesque and colorful, it resembles nothing so much as a horned chameleon eating a stag beetle. Except its organs are on the outside. And it's a tripod. With a single branching antler. Barlowe all the way, is my point. Even a fairly indifferent airbrushing...[See More]

M.O.D.O.K.
Marvel Legends - Infinite Series (Hasbro) - Deluxe
Rated 4.90 stars by RMaster007
Alright, I’ll admit it. I’m not a big Marvel guy. If anything, I’m more into DC. Though that said, I have been eyeing some of the Marvel figures Hasbro has to offer. The upcoming animated X-Men figures look awesome (having only just started watching the show helps), and I regret not getting the Pulse-exclusive Venom. But one that’s been interesting me for a while is the Marvel Legends M.O.D.O.K. I’ve seen him a couple times at retailers, but it wasn’t until last month that I finally caved in and got him. M.O.D.O.K. is packaged in a rather interesting way, he comes disassembled! The front and back sides of the figure, the legs, hair, and thruster are all separated in the box, but it’s not too hard to put him together. I struggled a bit getting the hair in, but the way to do it is slide it...[See More]

Exo-Skeleton Spawn
Spawn (McFarlane Toys) - Series 4
Rated 3.50 stars by Karl T. Face
4 series in, Todd and company had settled into a couple of habits: one was including at least one oddball Spawn in every wave. This time around, they were She-Spawn and this weirdo. And two, lots of variants and running changes, hence the strange colors we see here. Of the four color schemes and three heads (!) available in this case, I chose this one in honor of my love for garishly colored skeletons, and it doesn't disappoint there. Lots of spines and a long bendy tail (with Thagomizer) make it look big and fancy, and the black accents really pop. The underlying body, rather than the strong red I was expecting, is a pretty washed-out shade in person, which I'm kind of iffy on. Then again, it might have been the only way to avoid too strong a contrast. That aside, said body is actually...[See More]

Klingon
Star Trek - Borg Assimilation (Diamond Select) - Basic Series
Rated 5.00 stars by Karl T. Face
Diamond Select made quite a few ST toys in the 7" scale, and they were all pretty impressive. Very show-accurate. But the kickoff series consisted of totally speculative designs, a trio of non-human Borg. The Cardassian and Hirogen are impressive, but today we have a look at the Klingon. Plying the skills picked up by their work on the rotocast Alien Combat series, our friends at Art Asylum cranked out some wonderful work. The sculpt is absolutely blanketed with wires and weathered armor. Tubes snake in and out here and there. The paint is without flaw, if pretty extreme compared to the on-screen black sweaters and computer components. The facial hair, starkly painted eye, and skin tone are startlingly reminiscent of AA's 18" Rob Zombie, for whatever reason. Articulation comes in at a...[See More]

Future Spawn (Deluxe Figure)
Spawn (McFarlane Toys) - Series 2
Rated 2.50 stars by Karl T. Face
It's weirder than it looks. Having bought this deluxe figure, some 26 years old now, from a revolutionary toyline,for ten bucks in package, I knew it wasn't exactly in the top 10 for the line. But anxious for a cheap dose of nostalgia, I couldn't resist. It's certainly unusual, I'll give it that. First, the good. It looks nice at a glance, if rather oddly proportioned. The usual assortment of spikes/hooked edges and a nice desaturated red tie it to Spawn without looking at all like we're used to. The thin left arm warrants a double take, but blends in fine if only half extended. Paint is tight for the most part. The way the targeting system ends up over the face as the armor is lifted is a stroke of genius. On the other end of the scale, there's the articulation. There's plenty there,...[See More]

R.J. MacReady (Station Survival)
Thing (Neca) - Ultimate Collection
Rated 5.00 stars by RMaster007
Undoubtedly John Carpenter’s best work (aside from the original Halloween), The Thing tells a story of an Arctic expedition team dealing with a shapeshifting alien. Just a year before the film’s 40th anniversary, NECA got the license in 2021 and put out not just one, but two versions of Kurt Russell’s character R.J. MacReady. Here, I’ll be reviewing the second version, known as the “Station Survival” release. Good luck finding either version of this guy at retail, though. He’s pretty popular. Like always, NECA is using poster art for these ultimate releases, and I like the art used here with MacReady holding the flamethrower. There are also some good shots of the figure all around the box, and it all just pops. You do have to remove some tape and twist ties for the figure and...[See More]

April O'Neil
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Super7) - Ultimates!
Rated 4.70 stars by RMaster007
A new year is here and there’s plenty to look forward to from all the various toy companies, but one I feel I’ll be getting the most from is Super7. Aside from the continuing TMNT and Thundercats ULTIMATES, they got a lot of new licenses coming for 2022, including Transformers, G.I. Joe, Power Rangers, and my personal favorite – Simpsons. As for TMNT, it looks great. We got Scratch, the holy grail of OG Turtle figures, in the sixth wave, as well as the BBTS-exclusive Undercover Raphael and the supe-cool but super-expensive Party Wagon. I already got two current releases – Michelangelo and the recently-released Donatello – on the way from BBTS, but until they arrive, I just got April to keep me satisfied. The packaging follows the same style as other ULTIMATES figures, with a slipcover...[See More]

Casey Jones
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - 1990 Movie (Neca) - Basic Series
Rated 5.00 stars by RMaster007
While there’s no doubt the NECA TMNT lines have gotten easier to find in 2021, there were still some that eluded me and other fans. While a lot of people found the Turtles in Disguise four-pack and Dirtbag/Groundchuck in their Targets, I never saw the former, and I’m still searching for the latter. Walmart isn’t any better, but it’s starting to look up. I managed to find the repainted Super Shredder and the Saki/Yoshi two-pack, but no sign of the “Ultimate” Casey Jones. Not the first time I had trouble finding a Casey, though. I never found either the movie or toon two-packs featuring him last year, and like two months ago, I had to pay $85 for the toon set. Sure, it was quite a bit, but it was a better deal than paying like three times the SRP on eBay. Alongside that quarter-scale...[See More]

Thailog
Gargoyles (Neca) - Ultimate
Rated 5.00 stars by RMaster007
It’s been only a few months since NECA dropped the first figure in their Gargoyles line, Goliath, and he proved to be a hit. He’s definitely near perfect in my eyes, with the QC regarding the wing joints being my only complaint, and I was eager to get everyone else they put out. Now we’ve gotten the second figure in the line, and it’s his evil clone Thailog. While he was meant to be released next month at the start of 2022, some comic stores got him early around Christmastime, and I just had to pick him up. Of course, all the bigger retailers like Target and BBTS and whatnot will be getting him in soon. The box here is the same size as Goliath, which isn’t surprising since most of the figure here is Goliath re-use, and while I did enjoy the packaging art used for him, Thailog’s is so...[See More]