Category: Toy Box

Every year at this time, I like to remind folks of my personal favority charity organization – Toys for Tots. In 1947, a woman named Diane Hicks had made a Raggedy Ann doll as a craft project, and decided that it should go to a less fortunate child at Christmas time. She asked her husband, Bill Hendricks, a major in the Marine Corp Reserves in Los Angeles, to find an agency that could deliver this toy appropriately. When he found that none existed, she suggested that he start one. That first year, he collected and distributed 5000 toys to needy children. And thus was born Toys for Tots. The program was so successful that in 1948, the Marine Corp adopted it and turned it nationwide. It’s been delivering on it’s goal to bring the joy of Christmas to America’s needy children ever since.

This last year they started a new facet of the organization, the Literacy Program. They teamed up with The UPS Stores and Mail Boxes Etc to give people the opportunity to buy $1 donation cards that are then turned into books for deserving kids. This is a great continuation of their overall objective: to help needy children throughout the United States experience the joy of Christmas; to play an active role in the development of one of our nation’s most valuable natural resources – our children; to unite all members of local communities in a common cause for three months each year during the annual toy collection and distribution campaign; and to contribute to better communities in the future.

Toys for Tots and the Marines help millions of children each year, even during this time of war deployment. In 2005, they delivered 18.5 million toys to over 7.5 million children, and I’m proud to say that each year I do what I can to help the cause, and I’d like you to consider giving back some of your love of toys to children that might not ever realize just how wonderful it can be.

As adults collecting toys, we really have it made. We can eat our cake and have it too – we’re reliving the joy of our childhoods through our collecting habits of our old age. But there are lots of children out there who don’t have the kind of childhood we had – or the kind of childhood we wish we’d had. These children are less fortunate than we were, or at least most certainly less fortunate than we are now.

So here’s your call to arms. You collect toys because of the love you developed for those silly playthings of your youth. By giving new, unopened toys to your local Toys for Tots campaigns, you can give other children the chance to develop that same bond, to have that special friend in Pooh or Tigger, or to learn just how much fun they can have with a couple G.I. Joes and an empty lot.

When you see those toys on clearance, think about it. Is it really all that much to spend a little on bringing the joy to a child on Christmas morning? I’d think most of us would agree that helping kids is the greatest work we can do.

To get further information on the program, and contact information for local coordinators, check the official web site. There will be drop off bins at many of your local stores, including Toys R Us again this year. Do what you can, even if it’s only a little – every bit helps.

In future times, when today’s action figure collectors are living together at the only rest home that will take them, sharing their stories of days gone by, much discussion will center around the Hasbro Indiana Jones action figure line of 2008, and the mistakes that doomed it to failure.

In case you hadn’t heard, the Temple of Doom wave will most likely be the last to see retail daylight, and even that wave has been harder to find than an honest man in politics. Many others were shown, and the diehard fan’s obsession was fueled, but these things will not come to pass. The whys are many. Collectors will cite the over production of the first couple waves, with their lame Mutts, poor paint jobs, and weak quality control. Average parents will point out a lackluster fourth movie that failed to drive kid’s interest to the overall franchise. And I’m sure Hasbro will point out that Indy had to battle against a crowded summer of high performing blockbusters like Iron Man and Wall-E, and the weakening economy that’s drying up the action figure market. And of course, Bakugan is kicking everyone’s ass.

Despite the reasons, the effects are here. Finding the Temple of Doom wave – which includes a new Indy, Willie, Short Round, Molan Ram, a Temple Guard, and the Chief Temple Guard – has been the quest of collectors for several weeks now. If you’re lucky, you may find them at a Meijers or a Kroger. If not, you’ll pay through the nose on Ebay or from your local scalper.

I’ve managed to snag a few, although both Indy and Willie remain on my hunt list. I’ll check out the Chief Temple Guard tonight, and much of what I say about him translates to the rest of this wave as well. If you have any questions, drop me an email at mwc@mwctoys.com, or visit my site at Michael’s Review of the Week – Captain Toy.

Indiana Jones Temple of Doom wave – Chief Temple Guard

Temple of Doom used to be my least favorite Indiana Jones movie. That was of course until this summer and the release of Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. TOD has it’s issues, but they are nothing compared to the stinker that is KOTCS. But no matter how badly George and Stephen treat their poor Indy, I still buy all the figures. And while TOD might not be the best of the movies, it certainly has some of the coolest looking villains.

You’ll remember the Temple Guard Chief. He’s the big ugly dude that likes beating the kids in the mine, and who pays for it in a rather brutal and nasty death. Your trivia of the day – this character was played by the English actor Pat Roach, who also played the German Mechanic in Raiders of the Lost Ark and a Gestapo solider in Last Crusade, making him the only other actor (other than Ford of course) to play in all three original films.

Packaging – ***1/2
I’ve liked the small packages all along, with their retro feel and general Indy branding. The shape of the bubbles do make them a bit difficult to store for the MOCers, but they hold up surprisingly well to basic shelf wear.

Sculpting – ***1/2
I suspect that had earlier waves been sculpted this well, they would have sold much better. If it weren’t for one issue, I would have gone full four stars here.

The head sculpt might only be 3/4″ from tip of beard to top of turban, but you can clearly see Pat Roach’s character in there. The fine detail work on the beard is excellent for this scale, and the folds and layers of the turban look very realistic.

The body work is general top notch as well. The torso was probably intended for the German Mechanic as well, since the belts and accoutrements you see are all glued on separately. He stands about 4 1/4″, slightly above the other figures in the line, fitting in pretty well scale wise.

My only problem with this category is in the figure’s ability to stand. I always include that concept with the sculpt, rather than the articulation – you might think otherwise. I had a mighty tough time getting this guy to stand on his own, although it is possible with the right combination of the ankles, knees, hips and feet. This is due in large part to his very small feet, which make it tough to get the high center of gravity just right.

Paint – ***
The worst aspect of the early waves of Indy figures was the sloppy paint. It looks like Hasbro got those issues resolved just in time to cancel the line.

Many of the pieces are cast in the appropriate color, like the arms, torso, legs, etc. You can tell by the slightly glossy plastic look to these parts that they were not painted separately. This works fine for me, particularly since the colors from one plastic piece to another remain consistent.

There are small details that are added, however, including things like the eyes, teeth, and small spots on the outfit. There’s a bit more slop here than would be perfect (especially under the glaring eye of the camera – in person it’s not as noticable), particularly around the red and black on the sash/belt. But it’s a huge improvement over the early waves, and indicates that Hasbro could get it right given time. Unfortunately, they didn’t have as much time as they needed.

Articulation – ***1/2
Considering the scale, this boss baddie has an impressive number of useful joints.

There’s a ball jointed neck, but the ball is so far up his head that it operates pretty much like a cut joint. The shoulders are ball jointed too, but they have an excellent range of movement, and take full advantage of their ballish nature. The arms also have a cut joint above the elbow, a pin joint at the elbow, and a cut wrist joint. That’s a lot of arm articulation for this size figure!

The waist is also cut, and he has the standard T hips. The knees are ball joints though (or peg/post as I like to call them), allowing the lower leg to move forward and back as well as giving it the ability to turn. There’s this same sort of peg/post joint at the ankle too, and it’s a good thing since without the mobility in the ankle, you’d have a tough time keeping him standing.

Accessories – ***1/2
Often, the accessories get dumped to keep the price down. That’s not the case here.

All the Indy 3 3/4″ figures have come with a special accessory – a treasure of sorts. This relic comes in a cardbard crate, along with a small sticker. If you collected six of the stickers and sent them in, you could get the mail away Crystal Skull skeleton. The artifact that comes with the Chief Temple Guard is a Spartan helmet, made from soft rubber. The helmet is quite large for this scale, and actually fits in better with a figure in the 6 – 7″ scale. In fact, you could put it with your Disney Indiana Jones, and it would fit in great.

The Chief also comes with three of his own goodies. There’s the cat-o-nine-tails style whip that he used on the kids/slaves, as well as a long, curved saber. This sword can fit inside a loop that is sculpted on his belt. Finally, there’s his unique dagger, which he can hold in his hand, or it can be sheathed in a loop on his chest.

Three film appropriate accessories along with the relic make for a much better Accessories score than we usually see in this scale, at least in the current market.

Fun Factor – ****
Great looking figure with solid articulation, a nice group of accessories, and the ability to stand off against a key hero – how much more fun can any one action figure be? Collectors may find themselves drawn more to Willie (another great sculpt and paint), but the kids are going to be attracted to the bad guys to give Indy someone to smack around. I suppose Willie or Short Round could serve that purpose too, but then there’d be that whole series of parent/teacher conferences you’d have to attend.

Value – ***
Some retailers have dropped the price of their Indy figures as low as $5, although most places are still in that $7 range. That’s a pretty average price for a 3 3/4″ figure, but most don’t have this number of accessories, or this level of articulation, making this a better than average value.

Of course, finding this guy (or any of the TOD wave) at retail is the far bigger issue than paying seven bills for him.

Things to Watch Out For –
It’s unlikely you’ll get a ton of choices when picking up this figure, so looking for the best paint is probably a moot point. Thankfully, the paint has been great on all the ones I’ve seen.

Overall – ***1/2
The sad, unfortunate truth is that this entire wave, from the new Indy to Short Round, is a big improvement over past waves. It looks like Hasbro was just getting it right when they had to stop. And collectors (including me) will be whining about never getting a Toht for years to come.

If you do see this wave, and you or someone you know is interested in them, I’d grab them. While I have my fingers crossed that there are crates of these sitting in some warehouse, it is likely that it’s the same warehouse from Raiders, and those crates will never be seen or heard from again. Hey, there’s an idea for George – Indy 5: Indiana Jones and the Quest for the TOD wave. It couldn’t be any worse than KOTCS.

Where to Buy –
As I said earlier, these are mighty tough to come by. Krogers (yes, the grocery store) had some when the DVD was released, and Meijers has stocked them off and on. They’ve trickled in to some other mass retailers, but not in any real numbers yet. You can find them online, but you’ll pay quite a premium. I suspect we’ll see these dumped at some retailer like Big Lots eventually.

Related Links –
I’ve covered a TON of Indy merchandise at mwctoys.com, but let’s just stick with the 3 3/4″ line for now.

– I had a guest review of this entire TOD wave, as well as another guest review on various figures from the earlier waves.

– I covered the Swordsman, Indy and Marion in one review, as well as several of the deluxe two packs.

Peanut butter and jelly. Bacon and eggs. Oprah and Steadman. Some combinations are just meant to be. And that’s the way it is for those two lovable droids, R2-D2 and C-3PO. As a pair they are far better than by themselves, so it makes perfect sense that when Kotobukiya set out to do one of their 1/7th scale vinyl ‘kits’ based on the characters, that they’d put them together.

For those that haven’t picked up the Kotobukiya kits before, a little background. The statues (or Nerd Hummels, as I am so often want to call them) come to your door step in pieces. You pop the arms, legs, etc together, doing your own assembly work. This process takes all of about 5 seconds tops, at least when it comes to these vinyl kits. Hot Toys makes some ‘kits’ that are far more complex, but Kotobukiya tends to stick with simple assembly designs.

I’ve wanted to add this twoferone statue to my collection for quite some time, but with a usual asking price of $90 – $120, it was always above what I was willing to pay. This week though, Things From Another World is running a terrific 50% off retail price sale on a bunch of Kotobukiya Star Wars statues, including this one. That means you can take it home for about $75, and I’ll make a special note of this when I get to my Value section in the review.

Kotobukiya R2-D2 and C-3PO

If you have any questions or comments, drop me a line at mwc@mwctoys.com. If you’d like to see more reviews, including reviews of other Koto Star Wars statues (I just reviewed Commander Bly today!), head over to my website at Michael’s Review of the Week – Captain Toy. Now let’s see if these are the droids you’re looking for!

Packaging – ***
The boxes are designed to show off the dismembered figures as best as possible, and they do what they can. They certainly protect the pieces well enough, and they arrange them in the tray so you get a rough idea of what it might look like once they are popped together. The photos on the box show the final kit.

Sculpting – ***
The box always says 1/7th scale, but the Star Wars Kotos tend to be a lot closer to 1/6th scale than you might think. However, and most unfortunately, that’s not the case this time. These really are smaller than usual, and as you can see by the photo later in the review with the Commander Bly statue, these are really too small to use with other sixth scale figures. This is particularly true for C-3PO, but somewhat an issue for R2 as well.

Of course, they aren’t advertised to work with other sixth scale figures, but they don’t really work with the other Kotos either. And that’s pretty annoying to me, since I’d prefer if these fit in better as an overall display.

Ignoring the scale issues, the sculpts are quite good. There’s plenty of detail on both droids, and the small detail work on the various antenna, wiring and pistons on C-3PO is quite impressive. If you’re just looking for a stand alone statue of your favorite characters, you won’t be disappointed with the work here.

Another difference with these two and the usual Kotobukiya’s is that these are not solid vinyl, but hollow plastic. I’m not sure why, except perhaps that the electroplating of C-3PO’s finish doesn’t work with vinyl like it does with this kind of plastic. Still, why do it to R2? While these look good from a distance, as soon as you pick them up you get that nasty cheap feel from them, something that always bothers me.

Paint – ***1/2
While there were a few issues around the sculpt that disappointed me, the paint helped make up for some of that. The gold and silver plating on C-3PO looks terrific, with a very even, consisten, and clean appearance. There’s no seams, no sprues, nothing to break the clean surface.

The work on R2 isn’t quite as complex, but it’s also extremely high quality. I searched for slop, and found none. And I’m pretty good at finding it.

Articulation – *
At first, you might think such a low score in any category would seriously hurt the Overall score of the product. However, you have to keep in mind that this is intended to be basically a statue. And this category is ‘articulation’, something that normal statues do not have. Therefore, ANY score above a Bupkis is actually a positive thing, and will effect the Overall score in a positive way.

Now, it’s only one star, because the only articulation is the dome on R2. It can turn, allowing you to position his ‘face’ in different positions. Sure, it’s not a big thing, but it’s something.

Design – ***
Neither R2 or C-3PO are exactly dynamic characters. That left Kotobukiya with a struggle – how to make them look interesting?

They’ve done a reasonable job here, and putting C-3PO’s hand on R2’s dome (that does NOT sound right) was a good move, implying the deep friendship between the two. But otherwise, they’re just standing there. I don’t have any brilliant suggestions for how to improve on that, but that’s not my job. My job is to merely whine about it.

Value – usually **; with TFAW’s sale **1/2
Normally, you’ll spend $90 – $120 on this set, with a SRP of $150. At $100, I’d rate the pair a below average value, particularly with the hollow plastic bodies. However, if you pick up the set at the $75 TFAW price, you can bump this score up, as that is a much more reasonable value and appropriate sticker price.

Things to Watch Out For –
Take some care with C-3PO, as the smaller pieces of his body can be broken off, particularly around the neck. As you’re pushing the parts together, take care what you’re squeezing or pushing back on. Other than that, there really isn’t anything to take extra care with.

Overall – ***
This set isn’t quite as good as I’d originally hoped, being a bit small and feeling a bit cheaper than the normal Koto SW statue. It still looks fairly good on the shelf though, and I have to say that they did a wonderful job with the electro-plating on C-3PO. The R2 is also pretty well scaled to fit with the Medicom and even Sideshow Star Wars figures if you squint just right, although you can also just go with the old Hasbro version. If I were spending the $100 on it, the Overall score would have dropped another half star, but at the TFAW sale price, it’s a solid B.

Where to Buy –
There are plenty of options, but Things from Another World is having a huge 50% off retail sale right now, including this kit. Go to THIS LINK and you’ll be on the landing page showing which Kotobukiya Star Wars statues are on sale, and the coupon code will automatically be added to your cart!

Related Links –
I’ve covered a fair number of Kotobukiya statues:

– today, I have my review of the Commader Bly going up at my other site.

– there’s also the TIE Fighter Pilot, the Snowtrooper, and the Boba Fett in the Star Wars line.

– in their Indiana Jones line, there is Indy
and his pops.

Harry Potter fans were severely disappointed this year when the 6th movie in the series, Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince, was delayed until the summer of 2009. The writer’s strike created a large gap for many of the studios in the spring/summer period of ’09, and several studios have pushed ’08 films out to help fill the void.

But I doubt the delay well quell the anticipation, and the previews show a much darker film, following the much darker feel of the books. And once again, Professor Minerva McGonagall will play a key role. We haven’t been treated to a while lot of McGongagall collectibles, although you can pick up her wand through the Noble Collections.

Gentle Giant might not be producing a lot more of their Harry Potter mini-busts (rumors abound of possible cancellations), but they’ve managed to release their version of Professor McGonagall. It’s a fairly limited edition, even by Potter bust standards, with just 1400 produced. You can pick her up for around $40 – $50, depending on the retailer.

Professor McGonagall – Gentle Giant mini-bust

It is only right that we finally have a bust of McGonagall, as she’s really the third most critical professor in Harry’s life, after Dumbledore and Snape. Gentle Giant has had some trouble turning in good Harry Potter female likenesses though, so it was with some trepidation that I opened the box…

Packaging – ***1/2
Gentle Giant has done a good job with the rather basic color scheme allowed them by the licensor. They also have the window here, allowing you to see the bust before purchasing, at least if you’re lucky enough to find it in an actual store. The boxes are easy to store, keep the bust very well protected, and include the edition number on the bottom. And of course, there’s the usual baseball card style Certificate of Authenticity.

Sculpting – ***1/2
One of the nice things about the McGonagall character is that Maggie Smith is allowed to play a woman that looks her age, rather than a woman that looks like she’s desperately trying to be 20 again. There aren’t a lot of roles in Hollywood that allow older women to actually BE older, but Mcgonagall is one of them.

Gentle Giant captured the look of the dear Professor quite well, and there’s certainly no mistaking her. The fine detail in the wisdom of her face is present, and the scale and proportions of the hat, body, head and limbs is quite good. I’m particularly happy that they included the robe pattern, sculpted and not just painted. That sort of texture lends a lot to the look of these mini-busts, and too often it’s missing.

All that being said, I did have one issue with the sculpt. They gave her a downward gaze…a VERY downward gaze. In fact, you’ll need to display this bust on a shelf well above eye level if you want her to be looking at you when you’re looking at her. Otherwise, she’ll be checking you out south of the border, if you know what I mean. Had they simply tilted her head back a bit, or brought the gaze up a little, or both, the sculpt would have been just about perfect for me.

Paint – ***
From early photos of this piece, my biggest concerns were around the paint. Bad paint could ruin the sculpt, and Gentle Giant, like many companies right now, has had their issues with paint lately. Early photos tended to use flash though, washing out her already pale appearance, and once I had her in hand I found that it wasn’t nearly as bad of an issue as I’d feared.

That’s not to say that the paint work is outstanding, though. It still is a little paler and flatter than I’d like, giving the sculpt less life than it should have. There’s a little slop here and there, and the eyes have that lifeless doll quality that can so hurt a great sculpt. She’s decent, but she’s no Bellatrix Lestrange.

Design – ***
We’ve never seen Minerva too active in any of the films…yet. And so this slightly reserved, contemplative look works fine for her character. It’s not as dynamic as some of their previous busts, but that works just fine in context.

I’m knocking off a bit here though too because of the downward stare. It really is the major issue in an otherwise solid effort.

Value – ***
While other collectibles have been skyrocketing, Gentle Giant has managed to keep the busts down around $45 – $50 at most retailers. That’s where I’m grading this one, and at an edition size of just 1400, she’s a better than average deal.

Things to Watch Out For –
Not much. Clearly you won’t want to go banging her against the wall. And if you do want to, then you’re one sick little puppy.

Overall – ***
While the paint is a bit too pale, and the downward gaze a tad annoying, the bust is an overall good addition to the line up. She doesn’t have any of the serious issues of some past releases, and will end up in the middle of the pack for most folks.

While there are three more announced busts to come in early ’09, they are more variants of the three kids. If it does turn out that McGonagall is the last of the non-Harry/Hermione/Ron busts, at least we’ve managed to get a nice collection of the majority if key characters in the movies. Oh, there’s a few more I’d really like to have, but that will always be true.

Where to Buy –
There’s some great online options if your LCS doesn’t carry her:

– Urban Collectors has her for $45.

– Andrew’s Toyz has her listed at $49.

– Things from Another World has her in stock at $49.50.

– Past Generation Toys has her at $50.

– Entertainment Earth has her at $55.

Related Links –
I believe I’ve reviewed the entire Gentle Giant Harry Potter line so far…with maybe one or two early exceptions:

– the last one was of the regular and transforming Lupin.

– another set of ‘twins’ was the Weasleys.

– I’ve covered others including light up Harry, Cho Chang, Luna Lovegood, Draco Malfoy, Merperson mini-bust, Voldemort, Hagrid and Mad Eye Moody, Ron and Hermione, Snape and Dumbledore, Dobby and Dementor, and a guest review of Harry and Sirius.

Regular readers over at Michael’s Review of the Week were already treated to the first part of this review, covering the fourth wave of DC Universe figures from Mattel. In that review, I looked at Wonder Woman, Cyborg and Ares, and tonight I’ll cover Captain Atom and Batman Beyond, along with the Build a Figure for this series, Despero.

This wave comes hot on the heels of wave 2, with rumors that wave 5 is not all that far away. Wave 5 is an exclusive to Walmart, and should be out very soon.

You can find wave 4 at major retailers like Target and Meijers, as well as the aforementioned evil Walmart. Expect to pay around $11 a piece for them, or you can hit one of the online dealers I have listed at the end to buy them by the case.

Mattel’s DC Universe Wave 4 – Despero, Batman Beyond and Captain Atom

This has been the year of the Build a Figure, with not only DC Universe waves and Marvel Legends waves having them, but we also had Build a Driods and some others as well. This wave features Despero, who might look familiar to collectors of the line.

While the main series has five figures – Wonder Woman, Captain Atom, Cyborg, Batman Beyond and Ares – there are a number of variants as well. Kaybee Toys is scheduled to have a variant of Cyborg (different ‘attachments’) as well as Batman Beyond (maskless) later this month. There is a Wonder Woman variant called Artemis (you can see a photo of her in the other review), and there’s two versions of Captain Atom as well, one silver and one gold. The Artemis and Captain Atom variants ship in regular cases to any store.

Packaging – ***1/2
I’ve mentioned before that I really like this style of bubble and card, even if they aren’t the most collector friendly. They do show off the figures well, they allow you to see new waves buried in amongst the old on the peg, and the text and graphics are specific to the particular figure. All of these pluses, along with their general resistence to shelf and storage wear, make them some of the better mass market packages out there right now.

Sculpting – ***1/2
All three of these figures are extremely well done, and while there isn’t a ton of detail on a character like Captain Atom or Batman Beyond, they’ve done a perfect job with the minimalist features.

The head sculpt on Batman Begins is a tricky one though. I’m torn on whether I’m feeling the slightly odd expression or not, but the longer I’ve had the figure the more it’s grown on me. His hands are sculpted to hold the accessories, and the utility belt is well done. He fits in nicely scale wise with the rest of the line, standing about 6 1/2″ tall, and he stands great on his own in just about any pose.

Likewise, Captain Atom has a very good yet basic sculpt. Both these figures use the standard DCU superhero body, and they are both excellent base figures for customizers. The very simple sculpt, with most of the detail in the paint, will allow talented artists to turn these guys into all kinds of cool characters. Atom’s head sculpt is where the majority of his detail work is, and the hair is very nicely done. The hands are both fists, but since he doesn’t come with anything to hold, it’s not a huge problem. he’s slightly shorter than Batman at about 6 1/4″ tall.

And then there’s the BAF, Despero. I mentioned earlier that you might recognize this guy, since he and Lobo share the same body sculpt, as well as some similar weapons. The Despero figure is much more in scale with the rest of the line, standing about 7 3/4 inches tall, since the body was originally sculpted for him, but used for Lobo as a cost cutting measure. His head sculpt is fantastic, and he’s one of the best looking BAF’s of the year. His hands will hold the weapons in a number of ways, and while you can’t remove the harness doohickey without cutting it off his back, it’s only a minor issue for me.

Paint – ***1/2
We’re now four waves into this line, and one of the issues we’ve seen crop up on occasion is poor paint ops. That’s not been a problem with this series from what I’ve seen so far, which is critical with characters like Batman Beyond and Captain Atom, where the paint makes up much of the unique look.

Everything on these three is sharp, clean and neat. There’s a little bit of slop on a few of the cut lines, as well as some slight bleed, but it’s quite minor. Some folks may find they prefer the silver Atom over the gold (the gold does look a bit like a pimp’s Cadillac), but that’s more of a taste issue. The gold also has more actual paint on him, as it looks to me like the gloves on the silver version are cast in red plastic, while they are painted (in a very glossy finish) in red on the gold version.

Articulation – ***1/2
These figures all sport the same type of articulation as the rest of the line – ball jointed neck, ball jointed shoulders with joints on both sides of the ball, pin elbows, ankles and knees, cut wrists, thighs and waist, ab crunch chest, and the somewhat unique hips that allow the leg to move forward and back, as well as outward from the body, all with a very good range of movement.

The ball jointed necks worked particularly well on all three of these, elevating the score even further. But I did find that the legs were a little loose on them, bring me back down that final half star.

Accessories – Atom ***; BB **1/2
The first three figures in this wave that I reviewed (Wonder Woman, Cyborg and Ares) all came packing more extras than usual for this series, but CA and BB are more in line with the standard. I’m not counting Despero here as an individual figure, since he is actually part of the accessories for the other two.

Batman Beyond comes with a small soft rubbery batarang. It fits in his hand fine, and it doesn’t look bad when he’s posed with it, but a second accessory would have gone a long way here. He does come with his Despero piece (an arm) however. Of course, that only matters if you’re looking to complete Despero.

Captain Atom has nothing other than the Despero piece, which is usually a big negative to me. However, he comes with the most important and largest piece: the entire torso and head. He also comes with both gun weapons for Despero, giving him quite a bit more plastic for your dollar than any of the other figures in this wave. Even considering how nice the Artemis variant is, I’m betting over time CA will the the hardest to come by, as completists buy multiples to have both colors, leaving folks trying to complete their Despero desperate.

Fun Factor – ***1/2
Great sculpts and paint with useful, fun articulation – how much better can it get than this? Sure, most kids today are going to have no idea who any of these three characters are, but Despero will make a terrific supervillain for any kid’s evil action figure empire.

Value – **1/2
At $11, you’re getting a pretty average value. Had we gotten a few more non-BAF accessories, like we did with the other three figures, this score would have gone up another half star. But for those that understand my reviewing methodology, you’ll know that this score makes the category neutral for my personal Overall.

Things to Watch Out For –
Obviously if you’re buying these off the shelf you’ll want to watch the paint, but it looks like this series is pretty consistently good. Other than that, you shouldn’t find any other gotchas!

Overall – ***1/2 ***
Rigjht now there aren’t too many mass market lines that I really look forward to finding. But the DC Universe is a bright spot in that otherwise cloudy retail peg space. This is one of the few lines that I’m still a completist on, and it’s because they look so terrific together on the shelf. Batman and Atom might be a little plain in terms of sculpt here, but that fits the characters just fine. And Despero is one of the best BAF’s this year, although displacing Foom from the top spot is mighty tough.

Where to Buy –
While you should be able to find them at your local retailer, you can also order cases at CornerStoreComics for $63. They have pre-orders up for waves 6 and 7 as well!

Related Links –
You’ll definitely want to check out part 1 of this review, as well as my look at wave 3 and wave 1 busted into two parts, one here and one here.

If you’re a fan of the old Universal horror movies, then you’ll know exactly who Rondo Hatton is. In films like the Sherlock Holmes flick The Pearl of Death, House of Horrors and The Brute Man, Rondo played a disfigured killer often called the Creeper. His unusual looks landed him many uncredited and bit parts in films from 1936 until 1946, when a complication of the acromegaly that plagued him took his life.

Acromegaly is the disease that afflicted other famous actors like Ted Cassidy or Richard Keil…even Tony Robbins. It causes excessive growth hormone to be produced, and when it strikes late in life, as it did with Rondo, it causs the extremeties and soft tissue of the face to become disfigured and deformed. The disease was not well understood at the time, and certainly not easily curable, but rather than allow it to destroy his life, Rondo turned it into a short but prolific movie career.

Rondo Hatton sixth scale figure

Amoktime is producing a whole bunch of very, very cool sixth scale figures based on the old monster movies of the Saturday afternoon’s of my youth. Rondo just started shipping, and will run you about $50. They only produced 500 of these in the initial production run, and I don’t expect those to last too long.

If you have any questions or comments, just drop me a line at mwc@mwctoys.com, or visit my site at Michael’s Review of the Week. I’ve got a ton of other reviews of figures like this, including lots of Sideshow’s Universal Monsters, over there.

Packaging – ***1/2
Amoktime is following in the foot steps of other current sixth scale manufacturers, and going with collector friendly, attractive fifth panel boxes for their figures.

There’s nice photos of the character on the box, as well as some good background text and additional graphics on the fifth panel. There’s a couple twisties, but nothing major, and nothing you have to damage to get the figure out.

Sculpting – ***1/2
Rumor has it that Rondo was voted most handsome in high school, but that might just be an attempt at retro-irony. In any event, he was certainly a better looking man when he was young than in his middle years. Amok has done a nice job capturing the details of his face, compared to the few still photos that we have of the actor. The distorted features look quite accurate, and the scale of the hands and facial extremeties looks great.

The forearms and hands look terrific, and are sculpted in a gripping or strangling pose, just perfect for the character. Similar to the old Sideshow monsters, there’s a cut joint up on the forearm where they attach to the standard body, and mine were both detached in the package. No worries though – they just popped right back on.
Paint – ***
There’s certainly no slop here, but the skin tone is a bit darker than the photos on the Amoktime site. I’m fine with it, but it may conflict for some folks who are expecting the whitish skin of the old black and white movies.

The darker skin tone is very consistent, and the detail work, especially on the lips, is well done. I would have liked to have seen some gloss on the eyes, but it’s a minor quibble, and folks that hate the painted catchlight will be happy to see it’s not present.

Articulation – **1/2
These bodies are certainly not what we expect or get from companies like Medicom, Takara or Hot Toys, but they do fairly well with this type of character. He has some issues standing, but they are not caused by the body but rather by the shoes. More on that in the Outfit section.

The joints are tight, and most that you expect are present. The neck isn’t going to tilt and twist quite as much as you probably would like, and the body is really a few years out of date, but I was able to get him to hold his classic poses.

Accessories – **1/2
Rondo comes with the obligatory display stand, which looks and works fine for those interested, and he has two hats. He often wore this style of hat, sometimes more beat up than others, and they’ve given you a fairly clean version, as well as a worn out version. Both fit on his head well, but I prefer the cleaner, less beat up version.

Outfit – ***1/2
I was very pleasantly surprised by his outfit. Although it’s a basic shirt/pants/jacket combo, it looks very much like his classic clothes, and fits extremely well. The pants are very well tailored, and don’t excentuate the skinny legs of the body (unlike many of the older Sideshow figures that used a similar body). There’s an actual belt in there holding up the pants, and the body has been padded (much like customizers have often had to do with other figures) to fill out the chest and arms. It works well, and makes the clothing look extremely good.

Another surprise is the buttons. They’re real! By that I mean there’s a button hole in the shirt (or jacket..and even the shirt cuffs!), and the buttons actually insert into these holes to hold the clothing together! I don’t recall ever seeing this before on a sixth scale figure. There’s two downsides to this though – first, the buttons are slightly oversized. I wish they’d gone with a black button on the shirt rather than the white, so they would have blended in better and seemed a bit liess obvious. Second, it’s tough to get the buttons in the button holes if you have clumsy, fat fingers. You probably need to ask one of your kids to help.

The only negative I have with this outfit is the shoes, and this holds true for the other figures that re-use these basic black shoes. They are a bit rounded across the sole, probably from the manufacturing process. That makes it tough for him to stand, even in basic poses.

Fun Factor – **
For these old ‘monster’ figures to be fun for current kids, they have to have a truly monstrous appearance. Rondo might be a monster to those that saw him as the Creeper, but for you’re average 8 year old, he’s just a weird looking dude in a suit.

Value – ***
Amoktime is filling the void for sixth scale figures in that $40 – $50 range, left when Sideshow and Hot Toys went uber-expensive. They’re doing a nice job for their first few releases, but they do need to look at adding additional accessories when possible, especially as they get larger and start doing larger production runs.

Things to Watch Out For –
Not a thing! You might be able to flatten out those shoes with a hot water/cold water treatment too, but I hvaen’t tried it yet.

Overall – ***
Amoktime gets some brownie points here just for tackling a rather obscure actor like Rondo. With proper monster lighting, he’ll make a great addition to your classic monster display shelf. He’s certainly not for everyone, but for fans of the old black and white movies, he’s a truly unique addition to the collection.

Score Recap:
Packaging – ***1/2
Sculpting – ***1/2
Paint – ***
Articualtion – **1/2
Accessories – **1/2
Outfit – ***1/2
Fun Factor – **
Value – ***
Overall – ***

Where to Buy –
You can pick this up directly from Amoktime for $50, or from one of these online retailers:

– Corner Store Comics has him for $47.

– Alter Ego Comics has him for $48.

– Things From Another World has him for $68.

Related Links:
I’ve already covered the Gort and Klaatu from Amoktime, as well as the Saucer Men (Invasion of the Saucer Men).

One of the best parts of writing this column (as well as my other site) is giving small companies exposure. Even with the current market pressure on retailers and manufacturers, there are still small companies out there bringing creative and unique products to the collector and fan of pop culture. One such company is Symbiote Studios.

Symbiote released a pair of Dr. Tran bobble heads not too long ago, and I reviewed those at the beginning of the month. They followed it up with the release of the Stykman statue, limited to just 500 pieces and retailing for just $10. Yes, that’s right, a polystone statue that’s just ten bucks.

Who the Hell is Stykman? Published by a.k.a. Comics, the comic has been around for a couple years, but is just now being distributed by Diamond. The book is a throwback to a character like the Tick, with a bumbling yet lovable main character, supported by his brighter and capable sidekick. Stykman is…well…a stick. How does that work exactly? That’s part of the mystery!

If you’re looking for more pop culture reviews, check out my site at Michael’s Review of the Week, and if you have any questions or comments drop me a line at mwc@mwctoys.com.

Stykman Statue

Packaging – ***
The statue comes in a well designed window box, that keeps the bust safe but also gives a buyer the chance to see what they are buying before the purchase. That’s a big plus, as is the economic size. It could use a bit more text, but it’s a minor issue.

Sculpting – ***
The character design for Stykman is certainly unique and creative. I love the artwork in the book, and the round stick head, with two ropes holding his stick eyes in place, is hilarious.

However, getting that look to translate is mighty, mighty tough. The ropes and the eyes are a little thicker and less ‘fluid’ in appearance than the actual artwork. The rest of the body, outfit, guns and even the basic base are all well done however, with nice detailing and a good scale. The statue stands just about 6 1/2″ tall, but since he’s sitting, that makes the actual height of Stykman would be around 7″ – 8″.

I am a bit confused by the positioning of the eyes though. The little sticks that represent them in the comics usually run left to right, with a slight angle upward to give him a mean or tough look. Here, one of the two eyes is straight up and down, while the other is properly angled. It makes them look a lot less like eyes, and a lot more like two sticks on strings.

The stick itself lacks much in the way of texturing, so it relies on the paint to make it appear like wood. I’m not complaining about that though, because it matches up to the style of the artwork in the book.

Paint – **1/2
Considering the price point, the quality of the paint ops aren’t surprisirng. Yes, there’s some slop here and there, but at ten bucks, I’d be surprised if that wasn’t the case.

The cut lines between the many bright colors are sloppy, but the coverage is generally consistent and even. These are the kind of paint ops that you usually would expect from a specialty market statue, but those statues generally cost 5 times as much.

Design – ***
Stykman is riding an exercise ball. I get the impression that this is one of his signature weapons, but because I’ve only read issue #1 of the comic I can’t be sure. Why only issue #1? Because everyone that buys one of the statues gets a free copy of issue #1, signed by creator!

However, he does use the exercise ball – along with the gun – in the very first issue, and I’d be willing to bet we see it again later.

Value – ****
Ten dollars? You got to be kidding me! I couldn’t believe it myself. A small company, making a licensed statue, out of quality materials with good sculpting and paint…and doing it for less than most mass market action figures. You may not know who the character is…yet…but you won’t find a better value out there.

Things to Watch Out For –
Other than the obviouis (don’t drop it!), you shouldn’t have any issues.

Overall – ***
Yep, the paint is sloppier than I like on my statues, and the wonky eye has me a bit bewildered. But the huge saving grace here is the price. At this kind of price, you are a lot more willing to be forgiving of issues like that.

Where to Buy –
Hit the Symbiote Studios site, where you can still get this guy for just a ten spot.

Related Links –
Check out the Stykman website, or hit my review of the Dr. Tran bobbleheads to see more of Symbiote Studios work.

I’ve been a collector all my life – everything from knives to stamps to coins to tobacco tins have filled first my parent’s house then my own. But the first steps down the road of pop culture collecting start with those damn little toys you get in every kid’s meal. Back in the eighties I started to pick up the occasional Happy Meal toy that was cool…then the occasioal set…and it was the gateway drug that led to me now buying $300 Premium Format figures and $150 sixth scale figures. A slippery slope my friends, a slippery slope.

I’ve kicked that habit for the most part these days, although that’s sort of like a crack addict giving up caffiene. But I fall off the wagon now and then, particularly when one of the fast food stores hits one of my favorite licenses, and such was the case with the new Star Wars Bobble Heads at McDonalds.

There are 17 bobble heads in the full set, and some do more than just bobble. They are also a mix of styles, with some of the based on the movies, and some based on the new animated Clone Wars. They should be at your local Mickey D’s til for another couple weeks.

If you have any questions or comments, drop me a line at mwc@mwctoys.com, or hit my other site Captain Toy – Michael’s Review of the Week. On to the bobbles!

McDonald’s Star Wars Bobble Heads

Packaging – **
What did you expect – they come in little plastic bags. At least they were nice enough to give you some basic instructions for those that are more than just bobble heads.

Sculpting – ***
The sculpting is fairly basic here, but it’s solid work for such inexpensive toys. In fact, there are toys in the store that cost quite a bit more and don’t have nearly as nice of sculpting. The concept is fairly simple – each large head is attached by a spring to some sort of vehicle. For the most part, these vehicles make complete sense (Vader on his fighter, etc.), but there are a couple weird exceptions. Nonetheless, the combinations are generally well thought out and well designed.

The sculpting on the ships is simple, without a ton of detailing, but everything is recognizable. The heads are fairly large, too big to be used for sixth scale figures and in some cases closer to quarter scale. Obviously, the ships are much smaller, giving them a slight ‘super deformed’ feel to their style and look.

Paint – ***
There’s not a ton of paint here, since many of the parts are simply cast in the most appropriate color. But if you consider the cost, and compare these to some mass market items out there these days, you’ll see that what paint work that is here is well done. There’s a little slop here and there, and some of the cut lines could be cleaner, but you’re getting you’re money’s worth.

Action Features – ***1/2
All the toys feature consistent action features: they all have bobble heads, and they all have wheels on the bottom to roll. For five of these toys, that’s it. These five are pictured below, and they bobble and roll just fine, but that’s all they do.

The next set of four also have wheels on the bottom, but they have a pull back feature. Pull back on the vehicle while the wheels are touching a surface, and when you let go they’ll roll forward. This worked pretty well on all four, with a medium distance obtained by all.

Next up, we have three that have light up sabers. There’s an on/off switch, and once flipped, you can press a button to turn on the saber. The light is bright enough to see in a day time room, but it looks much better in the dark.

The next set also has three members. These have an on/off switch and a button to push, but this time when you press it you get a series of sounds or spoken lines. That’s a nice feature, especially at this price point.

Finally, there’s a pair that walk. Turn the knob on the side to wind them up, and let them go! Both walk well, albeit a bit slowly.

Fun Factor – ***
I gave the full set to my seven year old son, knowing full well that I really don’t need another set of Happy Meal toys. He enjoyed them for awhile, and they work well for what they are – cheaper toys intended to amuse your kids for short periods. Don’t be surprised if your kids can’t find them the next day, with the possible exception of one or two of their favorites. My son gravitated to the walkers and the light up sabers, but your mileage may vary.

Value – ****
Depending on the license, they do some truly amazing stuff for pretty much no cost. Coming up next in September – Batman Legos! You know I’ll be getting that whole set for my son AND a set for me!

Things to Watch Out For:
Getting a large ass from eating too many Happy Meals.

Overall – ***
Some people see action figures and other toys at the local store and think “Jesus, that’s no better than a Happy Meal toy!”. I see the quality of the current day Happy Meal toys and think “Wow, that’s good enough to be in a store!”. It really does amaze me what they do with the licenses, considering how little they charge for these. Kinda makes you wonder how much that beef in your kid’s hamburger cost them, eh? Best not to think about it, and pass me the McNuggets please.

Where to Buy –
Uh, McDonald’s? Expect to pay around a buck each if you buy them individually, although it can vary from store to store.

When my new 13″ Joker and Harley arrived last week, I originally planned on reviewing them together. Makes sense, right? And then I thought about it for more than 10 seconds, and realized that it only made sense to review Harley here. I still have the Joker over at MROTW, but Harley gets her own special treatment here.

What do you need to know about Harley? Dr. Quinn, mental medicine woman, fell under the spell of Mr. J while he was at Arkham. Sparks flew, and she signed up as his main squeeze. Adding her figure into the 13″ Deluxe line makes great sense, as she’s been a tremendously popular femme fatale since her debut on the animated show. Releasing her at the exact same time as the Joker also makes great sense.

I’m not quite as sure about their choice for her look, but time will tell. Unlike the Joker, who is a very comic book art based design, she’s much more ‘realistic’ in appearance. While they were released at the same time, the two don’t quite marry up perfectly in the design department.

You can pick up Harley at your local comic shop, or from one of the fine sponsors I have listed at the end of the review. Suggested retail is $80, but you can expect to pay around $65 – $70.

DC Direct Deluxe Harley Quinn

Packaging – ***
The box is very similar to the rest of the line, and suffers from the same issue of too many twisties. It’s not as big of an issue for Harl as it is for the Joker, because the one across her mid-section doesn’t cause the same type of extreme costume wrinkles, but they’re still annoying.

The text is decent though, as are the graphics. The boxes are a little thin, and that means they are less likely to stand up to prolonged shelf time, or some shipping situations, but it’s not a major issue.

Sculpting – ***
The biggest issue I have with this figure is the head sculpt – it’s all up hill from there. Most of my issues are also aesthetic, so it could very well be that your mileage will vary.

Harley is very pretty, no doubt about it. In this version, she’s a very non-distinct form of pretty, making it less about her features and more about the makeup. I don’t have an issue with that, but I do wonder if the design choice was the best. This is a very realistic looking head sculpt, and she almost looks like a Sears model dressed up for Halloween. Paired with the much more comic styled Batman, Robin and Joker, she doesn’t quite fit in.

Along with this basic design issue, I also think the head is a smidge too small. Usually we have the issue of bobble head disease, particularly with female figures, but in reality people do tend to have large heads. Here, with the cowl part of her actual sculpt, the head seems much too small for the 13″ scale body. This is even more noticeable in person than it is in photos.

But other than those two issues, I’m good to go. The hands are also nicely done, with a good choice of poses that work with the accessories. She’s certainly the nicest Harley in this scale we’ve gotten to date, just not as nice as she could have been for me.

Paint – ***1/2
Although the design and sculpt might not be perfect, the paint is certainly very clean. Harley’s trademark white makeup with black mask and red/black lips looks terrific, with a consistent application and fairly clean cut lines. There’s a little blip here and there, but without very careful inspection you won’t see it.

Her eyes are nice and straight, looking slightly up at you, adding to her seductive nature. The lips are done in the two tone style, but it blends very nicely. This is the sort of paint job that can make a mediocre sculpt much better than it is.

Articulation – ***
This is the same female body we recently saw with Batgirl, and it works pretty well for a superheroine. The body is a little too wide in the hips, something that’s more noticable with Harley than with Batgirl, who had a cape to add some width to her upper body, but the proportions do lend it a seductive quality that you like in your evil female characters.

In fact, I still prefer this body over the male body for more than just the obvious reasons. The ball jointed neck works nicely, and the hips allow for more backward movement than with the male body.

Oh, she still has a couple issues I’d love to see resolved, like the cut wrists, but I can live with this version for the time being. And yes, she is slightly shorter than the 13″ male figures at 12 1/2 inches tall, but she still towers over normal sixth scale.

Accessories – ***
Harley comes with a surprisingly nice assortment, and in fact, the whole Deluxe line seems to be getting better and better in this category.

She comes with not one but two sets of swappable hands. There’s the attached gripping hands, plus a set of fists, as well as a gesturing left hand and a gun grip right hand. They pop on and off relatively easily, but stay in place during posing. Scale is good, and the various poses selected are useful.

There’s also her large wooden hammer, a common weapon for Harley. It’s a great sculpt, and while it’s a little small, you should be able to find plenty of posing potential.

Harley also likes a gun, and she gets a nice, goofy cartoony version. Of course, there’s a bit of a mismatch with the very realistic head sculpt, but the gun is still pretty damn sweet. It also opens, and can be loaded with the included bullets. Mine doesn’t stay closed particularly well though, so I have to take care not to lose any of the very small cartridges.

Finally, she has her display stand. I’m not one to use them, but if you are, the basic black stand with her name on the base looks fine and works pretty well.

Outfit – ***
Harley doesn’t sport a complex outfit, but it’s certainly a recognizable one.

Her tights fit well, and are made from high quality material. The vinyl booties work much better here than they did on the batgirl release, and she can actually stand in them just fine. Her fluffy white cuffs are not sewn to the suit, so they can be easily removed and repositioned. That was a smart move, since in swapping the hands back and forth, you probably would have tore them loose.

Her collar has the little puffballs sewn at the end of each loop, but these threads are quite thin. I managed to pull one loose about 10 seconds after she was out of the box, which you can see in the photos. I’m not much of a seamstress, so it’s going to be more effort than I like to think to get the damn thing back on.

Since her cowl is part of the sculpt, I already covered that in the earlier section. But it’s worth noting here that the threads holding the balls on the ends of ‘horns’ seem much sturdier than those on her collar.

Fun Factor – ***
Like her beau, Harley retains all the things that make a good sixth scale figure, just at a collector’s price point. And she kicks the crap out of the Barbie version of Harley, which was actually supposed to be a toy.

Value – **
The increasing prices are going to really hurt this line, and I suspect that many collectors will get much, much choosier. It isn’t quite as bad with Harley as it is with the guys, since she costs a smidge less still. Even at around $65 though, a lot of folks are going to balk.

Things to Watch Out For –
Those damn little balls on her collar fall off mighty easy, as you can see in my photos. And once they do, you’ll need some sewing skills to get them attached again.

Overall – ***
Even with my issues around her head sculpt (which really does remind me of someone in a costume) and the higher price point, I’m still quite pleased with the purchase. The basic quality of the Deluxe line has really improved over the last two or three releases, and they are making changes where appropriate. Unfortunately, the higher price point may kill this line when those damn bendy hands couldn’t.

Where to Buy –
You have a number of online choices if your LCS either doesn’t have her, or is charging an arm and a leg:

– Urban Collector has her for $64.

– CornerStoreComics has him at $64 as well.

– YouBuyNow has her at $76.

– For the UK folks, Forbidden Planet has her listed at 58 GBP.

Related Links –
Obviously, the most related is the review of the Joker, but there’s plenty of other reviews of 13″ Deluxe figures, like the DK Movie versions of Batman and Joker, Bizarro, Green Arrow, Robin, two versions of Batgirl, as well as Batman himself in the old school 70’s outfit, Nightwing, a guest review of Catwoman, and my reviews of the Martian Manhunter, Two Face, Batman Begins and classic Batman.

Occasionally, a company does something truly unique and uber-cool – such is the situation with Weta and their line of Rayguns. Called “Dr. Grordbort’s Infallible Aether Oscillators” or just rayguns for short, these amazing retro sci-fi weapons were some of the best items on display once again this year at the San Diego Comic-Con. The concept is simple enough – produce a series of guns that look like something right off the old serial sci-fi shows, like Flash Gordon. However, these are far better than any movie prop. The designs, detailing, weathering, and quality are something to truly behold. I have a few photos of them in my Weta coverage from this year’s con.

These things are full sized props, however, made from metal, wood, and other ‘real’ materials. While that means they look just like they could really turn your enemy into powdered toast with the pull of the trigger, they also cost crazy money. We’re talking $500 – $600 US and more…far more than any mere mortal such as yours truly can afford.

For us, Weta has done miniature versions as SDCC exclusives for the past couple years. These look very much like their larger cousins, but are small enough to fit in your palm. They also aren’t nearly as detailed as the big versions, or made from as wide a range of materials. They also only cost $40.

This year’s version is called the Goliathan 83, and only 400 were produced for the show. They sold out of course, but you can always pick up the full sized version from Weta for a mere $690. Oh c’mon…you know you want to.

If you have any questions or comments, drop me an email at mwc@mwctoys.com, or check out the other reviews at Michael’s Review of the Week – Captain Toy. Let’s get blastin’!

SDCC 2008 Exclusive miniature Goliathan 83

Packaging – ***1/2
There isn’t a lot of text or background, but the package does have a very, very cool retro feel and look to it. The graphics are great, and the interior plastic tray (with plastic lid) is completely collector friendly. Pop it out, pop it back in, no damage, no fuss, no muss.

Sculpting – ***1/2
Obviously, the sculpts are going to be far more intricate on the full sized versions. On top of that, they use various materials to make the guns look extremely realistic, while the small versions are solid metal. Very heavy, very solid, but not as intricate.

Still, these are quite detailed for the scale. They’ve included the small notches on the power indicator, the various itty bitty antennae, and all the implied rivets and screws are sculpted on, not merely painted.

Paint – ***1/2
They got creative with some of the paint as well, using it t simulate some of the features of the larger version. For example, the tube on the top back (which reminds me of a super soaker) is painted with a glittery, translucent sort of paint, simulating a liquid in the tube. The effect works pretty well, particularly at first glance.

Small details like the tubes and dial notches are painted cleanly, and the overall weathering effect is solid. It’s not nearly as good as the big versions of course, but at less than 1/10th the price, that should come as no huge surprise. The gun still looks like something that’s been used and abused, blasting aliens and robots from the future to smithereens.

Design – ****
The real beauty here is the design, of course. Developing one really great looking raygun is hard enough – coming up with a whole series is quite impressive. There’s just enough doohickeys and gizmos on this weapon that it looks deadly, and yet not overdone and ridiculous. It has that perfect 1930’s sci-fi feel, and in fact the designs are quite a bit better than what used to be used on the old films.

Value – **1/2
It’s tough to really compare these to other things…how many all metal, realistic looking, funky sci-fi style rayguns are there out on the market? Yea, I really wish someone would go after the licenses for actual film and tv guns like Flash Gordon, Lost in Space, Buck Rodgers, etc. etc. etc. but until they do, there’s not much to judge against. The quality here is very high, and it seemed like an appropriate price considering the materials, the attention to detail, and the very low production run.

There actually is one other line these can be compared to: Master Replicas scaled Star Wars blasters and lightsabers. Those ran around this same price when they were released, and were produced in much larger numbers.

Things to Watch Out For –
The small metal ‘antennae’ that you see protruding from various parts of the weapon can be bent and broken with rough handling. But other than that, you should be good to anniliate your enemies.

Overall – ***1/2
Short of hitting the lottery, I’ll never own one of the larger versions. That makes me all the more pleased that Weta is producing these miniature versions. The designs are great, the quality is high, and they make nice little display pieces with the miniature Star Wars weapons that Master Replicas released. I certainly hope to see more of these come from Weta, even if it’s only a once a year thing.

Where to Buy –
Unfortunately, your only real choice now is Ebay. Try searching using MyAuctionLinks.com.

Related Links:
Check out Weta’s site for more information.

Another year, another San Diego Comic Con goes by. For many years now I’ve been braving the crowds and crazyiness to savor all that is the nerd prom, and I always enjoy myself. This year, the entire show sold out in advance – no tickets were avalable on site. I don’t know of any other public convention where that occurs, particularly since we’re talking around 125,000 advance ticket holders.

Here again is my Top 10 best and worst aspects of this year’s con. And while I’ll be complaining about some things (it is our nature after all), please let me say that the positives of the experience greatly outweight the negatives. Let’s get to the list!

Number 10 Best – The panels of course. While I’ll be the first to admit that overall the panels this year weren’t quite as blockbuster as last year, I did attend some terrific ones. I think this is the first year they’ve ever held any panel in Hall H that was television show themed, but both the Heroes and Lost panels were fantastic and filled to capacity. We got to see the entire first episode of this seasons Heroes (with lots of great answers like who shot Nathan Petrelli and plenty more interesting new questions), and while the Lost guys never tell us much, at least they do it in a Hell of an entertaining way. I also enjoyed panels on the Venture Brothers, Robot Chicken, Terminator: Salvation, Pixar’s next film Up, and Disney’s next animated release, Bolt.

Number 10 Worst – The lines for the panels, of course. Hall H wasn’t too bad, even when the lines were long. That’s the thing about lining up almost 7,000 people – it’s one HELL of a long line, but you all get in. In fact, I got in line at 9:45 am for the 10:30 am Heroes panel, thinking I’d never get in (the lenght of the line was awe inducing), and yet I made it in on time with room to spare. I plan on turning the experience into a uplifting documentary film called Waiting. I smell Oscar.

But other rooms were not so lucky, and there were great panels in the other rooms. This year, 6CDEF was particularly bad, and by Friday morning I realized that I was more likely to have a pleasant experience with Hall security than seeing anything in the large combined room.

Number 9 Best – The celebrities. Comic-con is becoming the place to pimp your show/movie/projecct. I didn’t see a lot of celebs wandering the flow (Scott Adsit from 30 Rock was there, as was Dennis Miller, and Triumph the Insult Dog was enjoying himself), but the panels had everyone from Matthew Fox, to the entire cast of Heroes, to Chris McCulloch (creator of Venture Brothers, and voice of Hank Venture). It appeared as though all were having one Hell of a great time, too.

Number 9 Worst – The crowd. This was particularly obvious on Wednesday night. It appears as though they are selling just as many tickets for Wednesday as any other day…but there are no panels or other activities to pull people away from the main floor. Add to that all that geek adrenaline that’s been pent up for 360 days since the last Comic Con, and you get one large, pushy, annoying crowd. At some point they have to look at moving to a larger location, perhaps in Vegas, or the show may simply implode to form the first nerd black hole.

Number 8 Best – My introduction to the Flight of the Conchords. Actually, this has nothing to do specifically with the con, but while I was there my nephew had me watch the entire first season DVD’s. And they kick ass. If you tend to like weird, off beat comedy, and particularly if you like novelty music, you should check it out. I am da Boom King. And the Hip Hoppopotamus.

Number 8 Worst – getting a Mattel or Hasbro exclusive. The demand was high, and neither booth could truly accomodate it. Hasbro went with an approach where you had to get a ticket at one location, and that ticket told you when to go to the booth to buy your exclusives. However, this just meant you got to stand in one long line to be given the opportunity to go stand in another long line.

Mattel committed the cardinal sin of switching how they did their distribution during the middle of the con. First, they started out simply selling them first come first serve up to an alloted amount each day. This means long, painful lines of course. Then, a couple days in, they switched to passing out raffle tickets early, and going to the booth later in the day. While this second approach was less painful, the confusion caused by the switch created some serious fanboy animosity. There was much grinding of teeth and cursing of mothers.

Number 7 Best – All those wonderful costumes. This is a chance to let your geek flag fly, and fans unfurl them with great gusto. Oh, some of those flags shouldn’t be waving quite so proudly, but that’s for them to work out in therapy later. Big points to the folks that get and imaginitive in their choice of characters. To do a great costume requires a) that you pick a recognizable character, but not one that TOO obvious and b) that you take into consideration your own body and look. If you weigh 80 pounds soaking wet, I wouldn’t recommend dressing up as He-man. And while the title of the movie might have been ‘300’, that doesn’t mean weighing 300 pounds makes you an ideal Spartan.

Number 7 Worst – The sheer number of Jokers this year. I bet that probably doesn’t come as much of a surprise to you…so I’m not sure why so many folks thought that it would make for a creative and interesting look. Oh, there were some guys there that have been doing the Joker for years, and they do it extremely well (such as this guy in the photo), but there were dozens and dozens around making all of them a whole lot less special. On the flip side, big props out to the guys dressed as the Monarch’s henchmen, Bender, and Black Manta.

Number 6 Best – The Sideshow Freaks party. I attend a number of parties during the week, and none are as much fun as the one put on by the Sideshow Freaks. This forum is ran by fans of the company, and has a wonderful relationship with the people there. The party has lots of great giveaways, food, drink, and lively conversation with some great folks.

Number 6 Worst – The latest step in the evolution of the show – video games. Comic Con started out almost 40 years ago exactly as the name implies – as a convention for comic book fans and creators. As the comic book characters began to merge with other forms of entertainment, like film and television, it was only natural to begin seeing more of that content included at the show as well. During the 90’s, the action figures and other collectibles based on the characters became so popular the the makers of these took over half the main floor, pushing comic book companies and dealers into a smaller and smaller area. Over the last 4 or 5 years, a new trend ermerged, with the producers of video content shoving out everyone else, and this year the same main floor that was once entirely dominated by comic book publishers and then dominated by toy makers, is now dominated by film and television companies like Warner Brothers, Paramount, Sci-Fi Channel, ABC Family, and many others. The next big thing that will dominate is already clear – video game companies. Companies like Konami have figured out that their target audience is here too, and their presence expanded quite a bit this year. They aren’t dominating anything yet, but just wait – the war between video games, movies and television for the best Comic-con real estate is only beginning. I’m sticking this under the ‘worst’ category not because I have anything against video games, but because the show risks trying to become everything pop culture, and pop culture is a tremendously broad category. When the breadth of the show gets to expansive, the depth will get more and more shallow, making it less interesting for the hard core fans of any one sub-genre, and even more crowded and painful in general. I can almost hear the sucking sound of that black hole now.

Number 5 Best – For me, seeing some really cool items that I might not have otherwise pre-ordered is always high on the list. There are always a number of items that I might think look okay in photos, but when I see them in person I realize I must have them. This year, the stand outs were items like the 18″ Hellboy with Big Baby by Mezco, the Watchmen figures (both small and large) from DC Direct, and the new Hot Toys Lost Predator.

Number 5 Worst – For my wife, seeing some really cool items that I might not have otherwise pre-ordered is always high on her list. I think this goes without saying.

Number 4 Best – New and interesting mediums being exploited for geek content. I attended one panel on a new series of ‘mobisodes’ being produced by CBS in conjunction with Marvel.com, based on an original story from Stephen King called ‘N’. These are done in a sort of comic book style with voice overs, and are designed to be viewed on mobile devices. I also attended a panel on original content being produced for the Xbox Live. They are starting out with a series of short horror-comedies directed by some well known names in the horror genre, like James Wan and David Slade. I’m always up for interesting and creative concepts to deliver cool content, and it’s nice to see companies exploring different ways to bring even more entertainment into our lives, rather than just re-distributing content we’ve already seen in another medium.

Number 4 Worst – Convention food. There are no conveinent fast food restaurants near the convention center, so most of your outside choices are more expensive and hard to get in to with all the crowds. Your inside choices are pretty much limited to things like Mrs. Fields cookies and $3 cans of Coke. You really don’t know what bad overpriced food is until you’ve had a $7 convention hamburger, made from only the choices cuts of road kill.

Number 3 Best – Sideshow announced and showed the second figure in their 12″ Indiana Jones line – Belloq. As always, there’s a regular and an exclusive. While many people are going to immediately wonder why they’d go with such a secondary character so early, there is a very positie aspect to it. Going with someone like Belloq over others does imply they expect to be doing quite a few figures in the entire series, much like their Star Wars line. He also looks exceptional, and the exclusive ‘environment’ is going to really add to the overrall Indy display.

Number 3 Worst – Sideshow DOESN’T announce any additional figures in their 12″ Lord of the Rings line. No Gimli. No Merry. No Pippen. I suspect this is bad news. Very bad news. You might want to pick up an extra Sam and Frodo now, and befriend someone that can sculpt…it might be your only chance to get the other two hobbits into your collection. And Gimli? That’s going to be a pickle, but you can always pick up the old Toybiz version and swap out some costume parts. Not getting the full nine would be one of the great action figure tragedies (not that any action figure tragedy is all that tragic), and I’m far less confident that we’ll be seeing them now.

Number 2 Best – Connecting with old friends and making new ones. One of the best things about this hobby is the people I’ve met over the last 15 years, and SDCC is a wonderful way to connect with folks from around the world. It’s always great to put faces to names, and to realize they’re all just as big of a dork as you are.

Number 2 Worst – finding a damn hotel room that doesn’t require a bank loan to afford it. While there are plenty of folks from San Diego and Los Angeles who attend the show, there’s even a greater number that fly in from all around the world, and the close hotels – those within a mile or so – realize that the supply of their rooms doesn’t come any where near meeting demand. And what does that mean? Prices go up, insanely so, during the Con. Even at the high prices, good luck finding one.

Number 1 Best – Sideshow’s annonced and showed the 12″ Darth Vader and Stormtrooper. Has any fan base waitd this long for a A list Star Wars character to make it into a particular line before? We finally get armored Star Wars figures from Sideshow, and they look terrific.

Number 1 Worst – I don’t have one. For all the issues that crop up every year, I have to say that I love every show. Yes, it’s crowded, and if you can’t handle mingling with your fellow man I’d stay away. But if you’re looking for the ultimate geek experience, I highly recommend it.

And since I’m always asked, here are some photos of the best looking new figures/busts/statues I saw at the con, other than those already shown above and in no particular order. Any questions, just drop me a line at mwc@mwctoys.com, and if you’d like to see more photos of the things that were on display, hit my coverage.

Once again this week, I’m doing something a little different. Not quite a review, not quite a product overview…but something in between. I’m checking out a hand held game called MatchMaster. This is billed as a ‘head to head soccer game’, just in case you aren’t getting enough of the sport this time of year.

I’ll be at San Diego Comic Con this week, taking in all the sights and sounds, and I’ll be doing coverage every night at my regular site, Michael’s Review of the Week. Next week right here, I’ll run down the top ten best – and worst – news from the show. Until then, let’s play a little soccer…

MatchMaster – Head to Head Soccer

I’m showing you two versions of the game, one light blue and one dark blue. You actually buy one at a time of course, at a SRP of about $20, but you need two if you’re going to do the ‘head to head’ aspect.

Think of this as a Soccer Player Tamagotchie. You ‘train’ your soccer player by deciding when he/she sleeps, eats, and trains – and just what they’ll be eating and doing for their training. You also can play a series of single person mini-training games to increase your players strength, agility and other factors.

The hand held device is egg shaped, with 4 small buttons and an arrow pad. One button is Start – pretty obvious, but you can use it to start the various mini-games, and it also works as a pause button. The ‘sound’ button turns the volume up and down with each press. The A and B buttons are used to navigate the menus. A works like an escape key, taking you back up a level, and B works like Select.

The arrow pad works like you’d expect, moving things and your player left, right, up and down. On the two units, one had some trouble with the pad being a big sticky and unresponsive, making playing the games tougher than it needed to be.

Once you’ve popped in the 2 AAA batteries (not included), you set up some basic info for your player, like the display language, players name, club and number, and the date and time which are critical to the timing of various daily events.

The player has 6 life lines covering Power, Health, Fitness, Sppeed, Ability and Condition. These start out in the ‘danger’ zone, with only 15 points in each. As your player trains, sleeps, eats and plays games, these life lines go up. You want to keep these 6 areas fairly well balanced, to avoid injuries. Over developing in any one can cause your poor player some serious pain.

You’ll use the Daily Routine Planner (DRP), well, every day. Here is where you decide when and how long your player will sleep, what he or she will do for his morning and afternoon workout, and what they’ll eat for their three meals. The better the choices the better your player becomes. However, you can’t set all this up at once – there are specific times during the day (always the same) to set them up. For example, you can’t decide what you’ll be having for dinner except between the hours of 5pm and 7pm that day. That means you need to keep your player with you most of the day.

You can also play the 7 mini-games on your egg, each designed to improve different skills. The first two times you play them in any single day, they add to your lifelines. Any additional plays do not – then you’re just doing it for fun. These aren’t exactly the most exciting games – again, think 90’s Tamagotchies for level of detail and graphics.

When you reach Pro Level on the lifelines (all of them have to be 20 or higher) you can start playing Infrared games against another egg. There are 4 games in this mode – Match (where it’s a straight match), Sprints (where you race against each other using the key pad), Penalty (each player gets 5 penalty kicks against the other), and Free Kick (each player takes 5 free kicks and tries to get it over the heads of the defenders).

All the games, both single and duel player, are fairly quick and easy to play. The outcome usually depends on how well you’ve trained your little guy, so it does help to teach kids about proper nutrition, exercise and rest. The basic graphics are likely to be an issue for kids of the PS3 generation, but this is more in like with the 7 – 9 crowd, kids that love soccer and are looking for something else to fuel their passion. For the average kid that isn’t a soccer fan, it’s far less likely to hold their interest.

These are exclusive to Wal-mart right now, and they run about $20 a pop. There’s also a sweepstakes going on right now where you get a code inside the package to enter, and could win a three day David Beckham Academy course in London or LA for you and several of your friends. Check out more details at MatchMaster Games.

And if you do pick one up, try to treat your little David better than I did…

Today’s column isn’t quite a review…but it’s more than a product announcement. It’s someplace in between, making it very different from the usual. I’m checking out Doko’s, these little heavy discs of metal and glass. Will they become the next hot sensation? I’m sure Mammoth Brand, the folks behind them, are hoping so.

If you have any questions or comments, drop me an email at mwc@mwctoys.com or visit my site Michael’s Review of the Week. On to the revie…er…something!

Doko

Doko discs are about 1 1/2″ in diameter, and a whopping 1/4″ thick. Each disc is made up of a steel rim around an hard, solid acrylic center. There’s one of a multitude of designs in the acrylic center. They’re definitely cool looking, and I love the heft that they have.

The concept is pretty easy. You get a Doko disc, and you head over to the website to register it. By registering it under your Login, you’ll get Official Points. Each Doko disc can be traded to others up to 5 times, and each time it’s registered, both the trader and tradee get points. These points can be used toward all kinds of things, including unlocking various additional Doko World features, and stuff from partners like Toys R Us or etoys.com.

To get things started, in the spring Mammoth ‘dropped’ a million bucks worth of Doko’s around the world for people to find. They were left in major cities like New York, London, Tokyo and Sydney, for kids to find and register.

The Doko virtual world also allows traders to chat or instant message with other traders, as well as play hundreds of online games. All of that is cool, but the nicest feature is the ability to track your Doko’s as they make their way from trader to trader.

In fact, there’s a world map on the home page that allows you to view all the traders in the world by location, as well as all the Doko’s (or just yours). This feature works great, and I suspect that the Doko trade limit of five was set because of the old adage of six degrees of separation. With five trades, your Doko could theoretically end up with anyone in any part of the world!

So let’s get this party started. I have a couple Doko here that I’ve registered, and I’d like to trade them with you. Now technically, I could just send you the code and you could register it – I don’t technically have to send you the disc I suppose. But where’s the fun in that? I’d even like to see Mammoth add a feature where you can upload a photo of you holding the respective disc in some far away land.

But back to trading. Go over to Doko’s website and create yourself a user profile. Hunt me up on the map (moospiz3 – don’t ask) and request a trade through their messaging system. I’ll get back to you asking for your location, and I’ll send along a Doko! Let’s kick the tires on this thing…

I don’t know that it’s going to take off, but I like the trade tracking concept. I’m not sure if they have enough meat on the bones beyond that to bring people in and keep them, but with some additional enhancements they might just creat a virtual world that kids too old for Webkinz and too young for MySpace. Or for those that can’t stand either!

Back in 2006, the Four Horsemen (the wonderful group of artisans that currently due amazing work on many Mattel brands like DC Univers Classics and NECA lines like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles) started their FANtastic Exclusive figure line. These figures were voted on by their fans from start to finish. Everything from scale to articulation was picked by voting on their site, and the 2006 San Diego Comic-Con release of Xetheus the Champion of Mynothecea was the result, which I reviewed here at Quick Stop. For 2007, they repeated the process, only this time they produced not one but nine different figures, all based on the same basic body. They were called the Anitherian Nine, with their leader Ramathorr the Elephant Swordsman being the first release for last year’s SDCC.

I reviewed one of the nine back then right here at QSE as well, the rhino called The Gauntlet of Vaskkh. For those that read the review, you may remember that I complained about loose joints, a real issue for figures this large and heavy. It turns out that this was a major issue across the entire 9 figures, and the Four Horsemen ended up with a mess that lasted more than a year. After getting promises from the factory that the issues would be corrected and the early figures replaced with improved versions, that factory closed it’s doors. Worse, it looked like they might not even be able to get the steel molds back to produce the figures. Thanks to NECA, who stepped in on their behalf, they were able to get the molds, and they had them sent to a new factory to try again.

When the new factory received the molds, they had to inform the Four Horsemen that the old factory had left them un-oiled in storage, allowing surface rust to appear. That meant another delay as workers at the new factory had to inspect and clean all the molds before any production could begin.

After months of delays and factory issues, the Four Horsemen were finally able to complete the shipping of their 2007 FANtastic Exclusives. The various sites and retailers that had the eight exclusive versions are also shipping them out, and a tenth figure, the Chalice of Guudenuph (a pink elephant, get it?) has been added. He’s only available through their own website, the StoreHorsemen.

I’m looking at another one of the nine tonight, the evil Ssejjhhorr. This guy, with his cousin Ggruxx, were the bad guys to the other 7 Seventh Kingdom warriors.

Ssejjhhorr is an exclusive to Figures.com, and was limited to a run of just 550. He costs $30, similar to the other 9 figures in the series.

If you have any questions or comments, drop me a line at mwc@mwctoys.com, or hit my site Michael’s Review of the Week.

The Seventh Kingdom – Ssejjhhorr

In the world of the Seventh Kingdom, where the Anitherian Nine hang, there’s good guys and bad guys. The good guys in this series – eight in total – are all large, hooved animals. There’s several elephants, a warthog, a rhino, even a hippo. They all sport the same basic body, with unique heads, accessories, and accoutrements.

The two evil doers are mutants, of course. Those damn mutants are always up to some sort of no good. If your brother has six toes or a vestigial tail, don’t trust him. The mutant head sculpts are a bit more hideous in nature, and there’s evil in their hearts.

Packaging – **
These figures are VERY large and VERY heavy, making the packages quite large as well. These are packed in an old style bubble on cardback package, but because of the extreme weight of the figure, it’s quite easy to tear the bubble free from the cardback with just normal handling. Finding these on mint cards in 10 years is going to be pretty unlikely, but you wanted to open yours anyway, right?

Sculpting – ***1/2
The Four Horsemen do great figures. There’s no doubt about that, and their work here is a nice example. Plenty of detail, with an interesting design and great execution.

The head is a mutated beast, with a single eye at the snout and huge, nasty teeth. He also sports long horns on either side of his wide head, and these horns come unattached in the package. They are designed to only go on one way, but they don’t stay on particularly well. You may decide that it’s worth it simply to glue them in place once he’s on your shelf.

The head sculpt restricts the use of the ball jointed neck a bit, but the rest of the sculpt works well with the articulation. The hands are designed to hold his accessories, and he stands great on his own in a variety of poses. As I said, these guys are big, and he stands about 9″ tall. Although they are big, they actually fit in pretty well with either 6″ or 7″ scale figures, depending on how big you think creatures like Rhinos and Elephants should be, if they walked around on two feet and wore armor. And if you’re looking for some additional figures that look at home with Hellboy, the mutated Ssejjhhorr works pretty well too.

The faux fur ‘skirt’ that he wears is easily removable. It’s simply tied in back. Having it on does help differentiate the otherwise similar body though. Although all 10 figures use the same base body, the Horsemen were extremely creative in their use of armor and paint to give each one a unique look. I did find that the fur falls apart a bit easily, so take some care and don’t handle it excessively.

Sculpted on his back is a sort of weapon rack to carry his axes when he isn’t slashing through heroes. Again, since this is a shared body sculpt, this is the same rack that all the figures wear.

Paint – ***1/2
A great sculpt deserves – and needs – great paint, and here again they did an excellent job. Ssejjhhorr is largely red, while his life partner Ggruxx is largely green. Fortunately they picked two colors far apart enough on the old color wheel to make them very easy to distinguish.

There’s very little slop on any part of the figure, including the intricate armor. Cut lines are generally clean, and there’s a greater number of ops here than you might have expected.

My one issue is around the poor guy’s teeth – it appears he doesn’t have much of a dental plan. There are obvious rub marks on several of them, and I suspect this is from the package.

Articulation – ***1/2
The major area of issue when the line was first introduced, I’m happy to now report that the articulation is much tighter. They’ve gone with a ‘clicky’ style joint on the knees and ankles, making his support system much stronger.

You can still pose him in a ton of poses, including deep stances, and all the articulation that was here with the earlier figures – ball jointed neck, shoulders and hips, pin elbows, knees, and ankles, as well as pin and cut wrists – is all still there. There’s also a cut waist, as well as a sort of rocker or ball joint at the chest. It might be tough to get this joint freed up, but once you do, you can get a bit more tilting and turning out of the torso.

Accessories – **1/2
He has two accessories in his two large axes. These fit on both his back and in his hands, and they are some deadly serious sculpts. The only real issue is that these weapons were re-used heavily throughout the line, and I would have liked to have seen a few more unique implements of death and destruction.

Fun Factor – ***1/2
These are for collectors, but I’ll let you in on a secret…they’re fantastic toys too. Rather than simply produce Nerd Hummels, the Four Horsemen have kept these true to the concept of action figures, making them great for kids to play with as well as looking great on the shelf. You probably won’t spend $30 on a battle ready anthropomorphic elephant for your 7 year old to use against his Spider-man figures, but you certainly could if you were so inclinded. And that 7 year old would have a great time with him, too.

Value – **
Unfortunately, the one area that these get hit a bit on is Value. That’s because at $30, they are mighty expensive action figures. Buyers won’t be able to not notice the heavy re-use of the bodies and accessories, and they also won’t forget that these are not licensed properties.

Stilll, the run size on every version is extremly low, usually in the 300 – 500 piece range. Even doing 10 versions means only a max of 5,000 or so were produced of the entire series. That kind of extremely low production numbers, even without licensing, make for some pretty expensive figures.

Things to Watch Out For –
Not much. Like I said earlier, you might find the horns a bit frustrating and just end up gluing them in place, but otherwise you should be good to go. This is a sturdy figure with very sturdy joints, and little Billy could put him through the paces without too much damage.

Overall – ***1/2
This is another winning release by the Four Horsemen. The “animal as human” nature of these will only appeal to certain folks, but the designs are top notch with excellent sculpts and paint. It looks like they’ve gotten their factory issues behind them, and I’m looking forward to Scarabus, the 2008 figure!

Where to Buy –
Figures.com be the place to pick this guy up, or you can search ebay using MyAuctionLinks.

Related Links –
I looked at the 2006 FANtastic Exclusive, as well as reviewing the 2007 Rhino last summer. And check out the Four Horsemen’s site for details on this year’s figure!

When DC went looking for another great superhero to follow in Superman’s steps, Bob Kane and Bill Finger stepped up with Batman. As the original creator and artist for the character, it’s no suprise that DC Direct has produced a Batman Black and White statue based on his artwork and style. In fact, I’d say the only surprise is that it’s taken this long.

DC Direct has been extremely successful with the Batman Black and White series of statues. They are each done in a 6″ scale (1/12th), sculpted to mirror the artistic style of a particular Batman artist. They’ve represented artists from Jim Lee to Kelley Jones, and the latest release is based on the artwork of the creator, Bob Kane.

Coming up next for the line is a Neal Adams version, along with a Derek Miller and George Perez. DCD has raised the price on these to $70 a pop (that’s SRP, which translates to around $60 – $65 at most stores), an increase of around 20% in a very short period. Whether the popularity of the line can withstand the price hike is yet to be seen.

If you have any questions or comments, drop me a line at mwc@mwctoys.com or swing by my website at Michael’s Review of the Week. On to the review!

Batman Black and White – Bob Kane

Packaging – **1/2
It’s the usual box. It has some decent artwork of course, but the lack of a window and any sort of COA is a big negative. The box should get the bust to you safely, but it won’t sell a lot of product on its own.

Sculpting -***
The sculpt is by Jonathan Mathews, who has done a number of the statues as well as other work for DCD. If you’re familiar with Jonathan’s work, than you won’t be surprised by the quality here. It’s not his best, but it’s certainly solid.

The proportions are all done very much in the Kane style. Keep in mind that his Batman was less chilsed and ripped than our current versions, with not only a slimmer appearance, but a sleecker style. Kane’s Batman was no wimp, but steriod abusing atheletes had not yet set the standard for male perfection.

This isn’t the very first Kane style Batman, however. The long ears aren’t here, and the head isn’t nearly as stubby. He also has full length gloves, whereas in his earliest appearances he wore shorter regular gloves. Check out the DCD First Appearance Batman for a better idea of what I’m refering to.

While I don’t claim to be an expert, this looks more like a mid to late 40’s Kane Batman to me, with the small symbol, sharp claw-like hands, and square buckle on the bat belt. Small details are here, like the stitching line in the fold of each section of cape, which were usually drawn in by Kane.

While he is the right height for the overall line, the extreme departure in style from the more modern Bats might put some folks off. For me, I prefer the extremes, as it gives the entire group when viewed together a bit more visual interest.

Paint – **1/2
The paint work has gotten sloppier with the last few releases, and I’m getting less patient with it. This time, the mask trails down on to the face below the nose, and even the skin tone is uneven and sloppy. They still went with the nice glossy boots and gloves, which sets them apart nicely from the rest of the figure, but at this price point on a statue this small, I don’t expect obvious slop.

Design – ***
The design is good, with a nice dynamic feel to the cape flowing up and out from his body. One glance and you get the impression he’s just jumped down from a great height, and you’re seeing him just as he hits the ground and just before he springs forward to kick some ass. The cape is flowing up and out from his body evenly on both sides, much like wings. That’s fitting, since it was Kane’s original intent that it be more like wings than a cape.

However, there are many more iconic looks from that period, especially from the early covers of Batman. I think that had they picked something more iconic, the style and design would have been a bit more recognizable to the Bat lay person.

My biggest design issue is actually a mechanical one. The stance is just a little too wide to allow you to fit the metal pegs (which are attached to the feet, not the base) into the holes. This is a bigger issue when removing the figure than when putting him on, because as you *gently* pull him off the base, a lot of pressure will be put on the pegs and feet. I ended up breaking one at mid-foot, even being extremely careful.

Value – **
At the end of 2007, you could get one of these statues for $45, $50 tops. Now, that has increased to almost $60 at most retailers, due to the price increases from DCD. And while I love these little guys, the amount of materials, along with the general quality level, does not justify that high of a price point. It looks like DCD may up the price even further this year, and I fear that will very well be stake in the heart for this line.

The reason for that is the completists. This is a series that has been very attractive to the completist mentality, because the black and white coloration and Batman theme makes a complete display more attractive than if you only buy one or two. While the individual statues may not always be great, as a set they look fantastic. That has driven many collectors to pick up versions they might not otherwise have bought.

But at $60 or $70 a pop, that desire is likely to dry up like a worm on a hot day. With buyers being much choosier about which ones they get, one or two weak releases could doom the line with retailers.

Things to Watch Out For –
Be very careful attaching him to and removing him from the base! The metal pegs don’t quite line up on mine, and even though I was very gentle putting him on, when I went to pull him off I broke the foot at the metal peg. It reglued well enough, but be careful!

Overall – **1/2
While Jonathan’s sculpt and the general design are solid, it’s the new higher price point that’s hurting my overall. It’s nice, but it’s not a $60 statue, and with DCD raising the SRP from $60 to as much as $75 on upcoming releases, it doesn’t look good for the longevity of the series.

Where to Buy –
Online options are the best, particularly if you don’t have a reliable LCS:

– Alter Ego Comics has him for $59.49.

– Urban Collector has him at $60.

– CornerStoreComics has him at $55.

– Things from Another Planet has him at $63.

Related Links –
I’ve looked at a number of these, including Frank Miller, Jim Lee, Matt Wagner, Mike Mignola, and Kelley Jones.

Other licenses, like Iron Man, Indiana Jones and Batman might all be the rage right now, but Gentle Giant continues plugging along with their generally excellent Star Wars mini-busts. Not surprising since it’s the line that made the company, and remains one of their top sellers.

The latest release is a Tusken Raider, done up in a way to allow you to pose him in not one but TWO ways! A mini-bust you can pose? Well, sort of. This guy is a ‘limited edition’ of course, but with 5000 of them produced, it stretches the definition of ‘limited’ a bit.

If you have any questions or comments, feel free to drop me an email at mwc@mwctoys.com, or visit me at my site, Michael’s Review of the Week. Now let’s check out how they designed this two for one bust…

“Gentle Giant Tusken Raider Mini-bust”

Packaging – ***
This is the usual box – if you’ve bought these before, you know what you’re getting. Occasionally they skip the window, but it’s here this time. That’s a plus if you’re buying this in person, since you can actually see what your coughing up your money to get.

There’s also the nifty baseball card style Certificate of Authenticity, a standard with GG products for some time now.

Sculpting – ***1/2
As I played around with this bust, I was struck by a sense of ineffable mediocrity. It’s not that the technical sculpting is bad. In fact, it’s quite good, with some nice detailing and texturing in the burlaps and cloth areas of the sculpt. The texturing isn’t well above the expected level for this industry, but it’s thankfully better than the usual glass smooth Jedi robes that GG does. The head seems a smidge small, but it’s a minor issue, and the rest of the proportions seem good.

But the visual impact isn’t there. There was nothing about the appearance that particularly excited me, or got the old blood flowin’. I’ve given it high marks in this category because of the technical quality, but I’m going to bang up on it harder once we get to the Design discussion.

Paint – ***
There’s nothing surprising or particularly exceptional about the paint work. It’s servicable, and there’s nothing obtusely wrong, like wildly incorrect colors or obvious slop. The sweat/dirt stains on the cloak aren’t really working for me though, and many of the smaller details seem rushed and heavy handed. The paint could have elevated the sculpt here, but instead it left me with that same feeling of boredom.

Design – ***
If I were grading this bust on either one of the two possible poses alone, he would have lost another half star. But first, let’s discuss that ‘two pose’ thing.

There are actually multiple parts here, almost enough to have two full busts. There’s only one core torso on the base, but there are two heads, two sets of hands, and even two sets of arms! That means he can either be shooting his rifle, or he can be waving his weapon above his head triumphantly. All the pieces are held in place with very strong magnets, and the design of this ‘build a bust’ system is so good that it pulls up an otherwise mediocre bust.

While the design and use of multiple parts is done quite well, the end result is less than exciting on the shelf. Your mileage may vary wildly here, because at this point we aren’t talking about technical facts, but rather the essence of art. While both poses are somewhat dynamic, they also both seem awkward to me. In particular, when the pieces are in place for the ‘waving the weapon over the head’ pose, something seems off about the body and head position, making him look really uncomfortable. And let’s face it, all those heavy cloth wrappings in the Tatooine desert is already enough to make him uncomfortable – he doesn’t need any help from GG.

My only disappointment with the magnets/parts system is that you can’t do much mix and matching. The specific arms have to go with the specific hands, so he can’t hold his gun over his head for example. You can get the two heads to work with either arm/hand combo, but it doesn’t do much to improve the visual feel.

Value – ***
I’m giving them higher marks here, because although you’re almost getting two complete busts, you’re only paying the same usual $50 for the product. It also makes you ponder the cost of these things when you realize that usually for $50 you’re getting one bust, and no fancy magnet system. But this time for $50, you’re getting that fancy magnet system and almost enough parts to make TWO busts…you’re just missing an extra torso. Hmmm…

Things to Watch Out For –
My only caution is to be careful when swapping the parts. The magnets are very strong, which is good, but they can pull the pieces into place quickly. If you don’t have the edges of the shoulders or neck lined up just right, you could chip them when the parts get close to each other and snap tight.

Overall – ***
I really like the use of the magnets and the multiple body parts. Allowing you to pick one of two poses yourself is a nice touch, and since both looks are so iconic, it makes sense. I’m just less than visually thrilled with the final result, more on a level of artistic appreciation than basic technical quality. I can easily see where some folks would bump this up another half star, depending on their visceral reaction to the bust.

Where to Buy –
There’s plenty of fine online opportunities to spend your hard earned cash on these guys:

– Fireside Collectibles has a great price at just $42.50.

– Urban Collector has him at just $43.

– CornerStoreComics has him at $45, as does Amazing Toyz.

– one of the best places to find anything and everything Star Wars is Andrew’s Toyz. He has him at $48.

– Things from Another World has him at $49.50

– Alter Ego Comics has him for $49.50.

– for the UK readers, you can pick him up from Forbidden Planet for 38 GBP.

Related Links –
Other Star Wars mini-bust reviews include:

– The pair of Jawas, Dengar and Zuckuss were the most recent.

– Other Star Wars mini-busts I’ve covered include Chewbacca and Darth Maul, Jedi Luke, Qui-Gon Jinn, Palpatine and Skiff Lando.

There’s been a ton of hype and merchandise surrounding the release of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, and yet I haven’t covered any of it here at QSE. Oh, I’ve covered plenty at my site, Michael’s Review of the Week, but here at QSE I’ve been remiss in my duties, at least in terms of the Indy fans.

So let’s start fixing that tonight with a look at three of the 3 3/4″ action figures. These are being produced by Hasbro, the makers of the other largest 3 3/4″ series, Star Wars. While I doubt there will ever be as many Indy figures as Star Wars, they certainly have started out with a bang, releasing 17 different figures in the first waves, with even more figures planned to hit in June. Then there’s three vehicles in this scale, as well as eight deluxe sets.

These smaller figures retail for anywhere from $7 – $9, depending on the retailer. While that’s a little steep, many of the retailers have been having sales, and these three I bought at Toys R Us last week during their “buy 2 get a 3rd free” sale, making them less than $5 each.

There are figures in the first 17 from both Raiders of the Lost Ark and Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. As the line progresses, we’ll see figures from all four films, so be prepared for the onslaught.

“Indiana Jones – Whipping Indy, Colonel Dovchenko, and the Ugha Warrior”

While whipping Indy is from Raiders of course (and yes, there is a Cairo Swordsman to go with him), the other two are from KOTCS. If you haven’t seen the movie yet, obviously they won’t mean as much to you, but trust me – they play key parts.

There are two unique features to this line worth pointing out up front. First, each figure in the series is packed with an ‘artifact’. They come in the little brown crate-like box in the package. These artifacts are generally out of scale for the 3 3/4″ figures, but many of them are actually in sixth scale, making them ideal to go with your Sideshow Indy once he’s here.

The other nifty feature is that there is a mail away with several of the different Hasbro lines. You collect small stamps that come with each figure, pop them into the passport-like form, and send it off to Hasbro with a check for shipping and handling. In the case of the 3 3/4″ figures, the figure is actually a bit of a spoiler, so I’ll just say it’s another character from the KOTCS film and leave it at that.

Packaging – ***1/2
I like the look of the packaging, and the design feels both retro and new. The colors and graphics stand out well on the current pegs, and the figures are shown off nicely by the style of bubble. There’s some personalization on the back of each, as well as small photos of other figures in the line. Sure, they aren’t collector friendly, but did you really expect them to be? At least they’re easy to tear into!

The form for the mail away is in the bottom of the bubble, but the stamp you’ll need is inside the cardboard box with the artifact.

Sculpting – Warrior ***1’2; Dovchenko, Indy **1/2
Once again, the bad guys come out on top. It just shouldn’t be that way when you’re talking about Indiana Jones.

The Indy figure is actually one of the better head sculpts in the line…I think. It’s tough to tell under the paint, but I think with a better application this would have looked quite a bit more like Harrison Ford. The proportions are decent, and the hat is sculpted on the head, a smart move to make it look correctly sized.

But the leg pose is static, designed to look good with the whipping action and that’s it. I can live with it, but what I can’t live with is the hugely oversized and ugly holster. It throws the look of the whole figure off, and I would have much prefered a sculpted one like Dovchenko’s. Yes, you can put Indy’s pistol in his, but it still looks ridiculous.

Speaking of Dovchenko, his sculpt is pretty nice. The costume has some nice details, particulary in the folds and wrinkles. Both hands are sculpted to hold the accessories, and he stands well on his own. He’s not a perfect match to his movie counterpart, but he makes a good addition to the soldiers in the display.

The Ugha Warrior is a very different design, and we don’t have enough native peoples in the Indy collection yet. The head sculpt is great, with a nice generic pissed off look, and the ceremonial scarring on his body is actually sculpted on, not just painted. He holds his weapons nicely, and the sculpt and articulation really work well together, allowing him to stand great on his own in a ton of poses.

Paint – Warrior, Dovchenko ***; Indy **1/2
Paint has been an issue for this line so far, especially the various Indiana Jones figures. If the paint were better, the quality of the sculpt might show through…or not.

From the neck down, Indy isn’t too bad. His outfit isn’t as nicely done as the Cairo version, since the shirt is much to clean looking and there is a fair amount of slop in areas like the edge between the pants and shoes, or the high gloss skin tone on the chest. The face still has a bit of the googly eyes going on, although this one did look a little better to me on the peg than some. The stubble doesn’t look too bad, but overall the figures is average at best.

I like the Warrior a bit better. None of these figures have a ton of detail (and Hasbro has opted to cast much of the figures in the colored plastic to avoid paint), but the raised scars are painted well, as is the eyes and face. The bone armor has issues with poor cuts between it and the skin in many spots, and shiny plastic colored legs hurt what would otherwise be a better score.

Dovchenko has a decent paint job as well, but again, nothing to contact your congressman over. The eyes are decent, and there’s more small details on the costume here than many of the other figures in the line, but there’s also enough slop and generally careless work that it ends up being pretty average mass market work.

Articulation – Warrior, D ***1/2; Indy ***
Of these three, Indy is the least articulated due to the action feature. You better like the leg pose, because it’s what you’re going to be living with.

He has T hips, but only the right leg can move forward and back. The left is reserved for the action feature, where it it’s squeezed inward to move the right arm. Indy does better up top though, with a ball jointed neck (limited range of movement), ball jointed left shoulder, cut right shoulder, pin and peg elbows, and a cut waist. Most of the articulation is there to get a decent pose centered around the whipping action.

The Warrior has much more articulation. His ball jointed neck has a decent range of movement even with the longer hair, and both shoulders are ball jointed (pin/post style). There are also these pin/post style joints at the knees, ankles and elbows, as well as cut wrists, and a cut waist. Finally, he has the T hips.

Likewise for the Colonel. His articulation matches the Warrior’s, and works about as well. My big grip is the hips on both of them. If there were better hip joints that allowed for more than just forward and backward movement, then the great knee and ankle joints could be put to much better use.

Accessories – ***
All three of these figures come with two accessories plus their artifact.

Indy has his whip and his pistol. The pistol sculpt is quite good considering the scale, and it fits in his hand relatively well. The whip is a sculpted plastic handle, but the rest of the whip is brown string. I think this was actually a smart idea, as it looks more like it’s braided, and it flips in the air better than a rubber whip. Unfortunately, the handle is huge and oversized, and won’t stay in his goofy right hand when using the action feature even with this issue.

Indy’s artifact makes up for it though – the lower half of the Grail Tablet! It’s a little small for sixth scale, but close enough for my display, and the tiny letters are even sculpted into its surface. The monotone paint job tends to obscure the letters, but it’s not a bad little accessory for your larger figures.

The good (actually, bad) Colonel comes with two automatic weapons: a rifle and a pistol. The pistol can’t go in his holster (it’s sculpted in one solid piece on his body), but it looks fine in his left hand. I do wish that the articulation would allow you to hold the machine gun in both hands across his body, but it doesn’t quite work.

His accessory is the Chalice of Kali, from Temple of Doom. The sculpt and paint on this are quite nice, certainly the nicest of any of these three. However, it’s scale is all off. It’s too large for the 3 3/” figures, and too small for the 12″ figures. If you bought the 7″ Indy from Disneyland, it would work well with him.

Finally, there’s the Ugha Warrior. He comes with two weapons as well, a bolo tie weapon and a stone axe. Both of these fit nicely in his sculpted hands. Because of the long handle on the axe, he can actually hold it in both hands, but it’s a bit tough to get it there and keep it there.

His artifact is the plainest of the bunch, a ancient arrowhead. It’s too big for an arrowhead even for 12″ figures, but you can always say it’s a spear head instead. While the sculpt and paint are plain, that’s not too surprising considering that arrowheads tend to be quite basic in design.

I included a shot of the 12″ Whipping Indy with a couple of the artifacts to give you some idea of scale.

Action Feature – Indy **; Warrior, Dovchenko bupkis
Sometimes, getting a bupkis can really hurt your score. Other times, it’s exactly the opposite.

Here, the fact that the Ugha Warrior and Dovchenko don’t have an action feature is a GOOD thing. I generally hate action features, and not having them means they work just fine as actual action figures.

Indy has one, and while the mechanism has real potential, they screwed up in one very major way.

He has ‘whipping’ action. You place the whip in his right hand, pose the hand above his head, and squeeze his legs together. The right arm snaps forward, cracking the whip. Theoritically.

The whip handle is too small and thin to stay in his grip, however. What that means is that whipping action turns into throwing action, and Indy can toss that whip a good foot or so without any trouble at all. Put a tiny baseball in his right hand, and he can toss out the first pitch on opening day.

Of course, that’s not supposed to be how the action feature works, but this simple mistake turns an action feature with potential (the leg/arm mechanism works quite well) into one that’s merely lame.

Fun Factor – Warrior, Dovchenko ***1/2; Indy **1/2
The two villains here have solid sculpts and articulation, with some cool accessories. They’ll be able to battle Indy and provide plenty of conflict in any play scenario. The Indy is a bit weak though, really only working as a display figure opposite the Cairo Swordsman.

Value – **1/2
With more and more stores dropping the price on these or putting out sales, the value has improved. I’m assuming you end up paying about $7 for these, and at that price they’re a pretty average value. The included artifacts is what makes these a better value at this price than say, Prince Caspian or Pirates of the Caribbean would be.

Things to Watch Out For –
As I said, some of the googly eyed paint jobs appear to be improving in more recent shipments, especially with Indy himself. Keep an eye out for the best you can find. Other than that, you should be smooth.

Overall – Warrior ***1/2; Dovchenko ***; Indy **1/2
It’s funny, but so far of the figures I’ve opened up, I generally like the work on the villains much more than on the good guys. That’s the case here again, where both Dovchenko and the Warrior are superior figures to the Indy.

I’ve only opened two Indy’s so far, this one and the deluxe Cairo version with the Ark, but I have to say that the Cairo Indy is still my favorite. This one will make a good display with the Cairo Swordsman, but otherwise, isn’t particularly useful.

I’d pick up the Warrior and Colonel though, to fill out the shelf with interesting villains a bit more. You can always use more bad guys, and both of these are done well.

Where to Buy –
These guys are at just about every major and minor retailer right now, from K-mart to Target. Get out there and go shopping!

Related Links –
I’ve already covered a number of new Indy products:

– in the unusual category, there’s the Blockbuster exclusive DVD Case.
– I reviewed the 12″ German and Cairo Swordsman, as well as both
12″ Hasbro Indy’s.

– in the smaller scale, I looked at some of the deluxe two packs
and several of the single pack figures.

– There’s a number of cool Lego sets, inlcuding this
one.

– Gentle Giant did a 7″ version for the Disney parks.

– Disney has done a few other Indy figures, including this wave of small
ones.

– and if you’re looking for something a bit bigger, check out the very cool sixth scale Grail diary, or this
sixth scale figure.

Today is not about toys, or busts, or statues, or games, or action figures…but rather a new widget that I think is so cool I wanted to bring it to your attention. If you’re a blogger or website owner, you just might think this is pretty damn cool too.

It’s called TopSpots. It has been developed by a company called ScratchBack, which is a name that makes a lot more sense than TopSpots once you find out what it is.

The simplest explanation is that it’s a fancy tip jar. For years, it’s been possible for readers of your content to give you a ‘donation’ through Paypal, but the term ‘donation’ is a bit of a misnomer, since it isn’t a tax deductible sort of thing. So instead, websites and bloggers started to refer to it as ‘tipping’, a way for a reader to throw a little cash your way for your great work.

Most tip jars are just a graphic that leads you into the usual donation page on Paypal. And while this works pretty well for many sites, the ScratchBack folks took it one step further. It’s still a tip jar, but now the tippers get something in return – a text link to whatever site or blog they’d like! When a tipper pays you the tip (an amount set by you), their requested link goes to the top of your TopSpots list, bumping each of the previous tippers down one.

Even if your readers don’t have a blog or website of their own to link to, there’s all kinds of possibilities. Perhaps a link to their favorite charity, local school, a retailer they’ve been happy with, or their favorite YouTube video – the possibilities are endless.

You can set up the widget to have several different number of TopSpots or links in the list on your page. You also have options such as allowing the links to show up immediately on your page when the tipper sends you the money, or having the option of reviewing and approving the link manually first. And you can set how the links get bumped down – is it immediately, or do the links remaing for some set period of time before the next link can push them down? That’s up to you as the blogger or website owner!

Isn’t this just a form of advertising? Well, yes and no. It’s technically not advertising because there is no guarantee on your part on how long the link will be on your site, or even if it will appear. The tipper should be sending you the money because they really do appreciate your work and the value your content provides. The link is merely something extra, something you’re giving the tipper to as a thank you. They have to tip you before you even can review the link they are sending, and you have the right to refuse to show any links you find offensive or inappropriate. You’re in complete control.

I’ve implemented this feature over at my own site, Michael’s Review of the Week. You can see the TopSpots list on the bottom left of the main page. I’ve gotten nothing but positive feedback so far from my readers, and there have been some really useful links for not just pop culture stuff, but some other areas that I thought were just damn cool.

All is not perfect yet, and I do hope that future development will allow for owners to have more control over the look and feel of the widget itself. Right now, you can choose from a dozen or so different looks, but these are all very similar, and your own style sheet may override theirs, requiring you to make some additional changes on your side. I’ve also found that you do have to spend some time explaining what it is to folks, because it hasn’t yet become widely recognized. Once it gets out a bit to more sites, I suspect that the number of folks tipping will also increase substantially.

If you’re a blogger or web site owner looking for a new way to involve your readers in supporting your work, I highly recommend checking this widget out. In my professional life, I see tons of new ideas come and go, and it’s rare that I see one like this that really pops out. And it further proves that there’s always a better mousetrap!

Mcfarlane toys has done plenty of music figures, but one of their more popular series has been Elvis. WIth about a half dozen versions of the world renowned singer under their belt, they’ve managed to capture quite a few of his classic looks.

The latest in the series is called Gospel Elvis. Now, this name is a bit of a lie, as it’s not based on him singing any actual gospel music. He sang the inspirational song If I Can Dream in a very gospel-like style…or so says the packaging insert. I don’t know, it seems a bit of a stretch to me, but I suppose they needed to come up with a name, and ‘white suit Elvis’ wasn’t as catchy.

“Gospel Elvis”

Elvis is shipping soon to retailers, although online options are probably your best bet. Some stores like Hot Topic or FYE mght get him in, but I have some online suggestions at the end of the review. Expect to pay around $15, depending on the retailer.

Packaging – ***
The clamshells do their job, but I wish the look of the insert was a little more interesting. Still, the basic black with the lighted Elvis name does show off the white suit pretty well, and the give you the personalized description on the back.

Sculpt – **1/2
Most of the McToys Elvis figures have been extremely well done. One disappointed me, but that was a fluke. Until now.

The Gospel Elvis has a reasonably dynamic and interesting pose, with the body and hands lending themselves to his emotional performance. The left hand is holding the microphone, which has a cord that runs down slightly longer than the ground. That means you can hide the enf of the cord conveinently.

Of course, like most Nerd Hummels, you better like this pose because it’s the only one you’ll be getting. And while it’s acceptable, it just doesn’t have the visual impact of the Jailhose Rock set or the 68 Comeback figure.

The head sculpt is where it really falls off, however. Part of this is an issue with the sculpt itself, but I suspect part of it is due to the manufacturing process, where it appears that the figures are being pulled out of the mold too soon, allowing some deformation to occur.

And deformed he is. The right side of the face is smooshed a bit, looking a bit like Mild Stroke Elvis. The face also looks bloated, as though he’s retaining an awful lot of water. I don’t think this version is *quite* as off as the Blue Hawaii version, but they’re neck and neck down the stretch.

Elvis is in what McToys calls a six inch scale, and he will fit in fine size-wise with the other Elvis’.

Paint – **1/2
Unlike one of the McToys monsters, there’s not a lot of detailed paint work here. Some of it is extremely good, including the jewelry and the work around the mouth. Other areas though are a bit lacking, and they include the large sections like his suit. Mcfarlane often uses a slight wash or a dry brushing to give figures a gritty appearance. While i don’t think they actually used either technique on Elvis’ suit, the white has that dingy look to it, like old socks. I brightened the suit a little in the photo below to see if there was a big difference, and I think there is.

My Elvis also has a weird lump on the right side of his face. I think it’s a clump of dirt or plastic in the paint, which is why I’m complaining…uh, mentioning it here.

Articulation – *1/2
There’s a cut neck, cut shoulders, cut wrists and a cut waist. But these joints are only there to make very minor adjustments to get him in his one true intended pose, not to get creative. If you know this is just a plastic statue going in, then you probably won’t mind, but I wouldn’t want the uninformed to be surprised. And if you don’t like the sculpted pose, I don’t want you to think there’s much you’re going to be able to do about it.

Accessories – *1/2
The only true accessory is the small black display stand. It works fine, but it was a bit disappointing to see that there was no cardboard backdrop for it. The thin paper insert in the package has the red lit Elvis on the black background, but this is too thin for you to use with any success.

You can get him to stand without the base if you really work at it, but I wouldn’t suggest it. The others all have similar bases anyway, so using it when displaying them together makes the most sense.

Value – **
At what seems to be an average price of $15, these guys have gone up much like everything else. Unfortunately, what you’re getting isn’t really worth the increase. Ten bucks would be great…even twelve would get you another half star here. Grab it at $13, which some stores have it at, and you’ll be a lot happier then at the average price.

Fun Factor – *1/2
Elvis figures aren’t intended to be toys – they’re Nerd Hummels. And I don’t think Hummels, old fart version or nerd version, are all that much ‘fun’. They should look nice on the shelf if they are to fulfill their purpose. Since I know this is a Nerd Hummel going in, I won’t be docking the figure overall any for a low score here, but it’s still worth talking about.

Things to Watch Out For –
Clearly, you’ll want to watch the paint to avoid getting an Elvis like mine, with the lump on his face. Otherwise, you’re probably going to get just about what you see.

Overall – **1/2
Of the 7 Elvis figures in this scale so far, I think this one is tied for last with the pitiful Blue Hawaii version. If you’re a completist, by all means, pick this one up. But if you’re on a limited budget looking for the best version, stick with either the Jailhouse Rock or Comeback figures.

Where to Buy –
There are a number of online options I recommend:

– Clark Toys has a great price at $13.

– Amazing Toyz matches that great price of $13.

– Things from Another World has him at just $13.50.

– Urban Collector has him listed at just under $15.

– YouBuyNow has him at $17.

– for the UK fans, you can pick him up at Forbidden Planet for about 10 GBP.

Related Links –
I’ve covered a couple of the other Elvis’ versions, of of which I liked better than this guy. There’s the 60’s Comeback, the boxed set, and the excellent Jailhouse Rock.

In our age of relative enlightenment (hey, we can only be so enlightened as long as a show like Dancing with the Stars is a huge ratings hit), it still amazes me that there are people in this world that believe in things like Astrology and Myers-Briggs tests. Yes, personality tests (psychometric tests) like Myers-Briggs are just the modern version of Astology…but they lack one critical dimension that has allowed Astrology to last for thousands of years – cool mascots.

Mcfarlane Warriors of the Zodiac wave 1
Mcfarlane Toys recognized that the signs of the zodiac have always spoke to people, and has developed their own versions, called Warriors of the Zodiac. The first four signs – Aries, Taurus, Gemini and Cancer – are hitting shelves and pegs very soon, with the other eight intended to follow. Mcfarlane has added his touch to the classic concepts of the ram, bull, twins and crab.

These will run $12 – $17 each depending on where you pick them up, which is a jump for McToys when it comes to an unlicensed line. Even if Toys R Us and Meijers carries them, it looks like they’ll be $12 a pop.

Packaging – ***
Clamshells, but the smaller style that McToys has switched too. The internal paper insert has some info on each of the four figures in the wave on the interior, which is a nice addition. The design is passable, if not exceptional. And be careful with that machete you’ll need to use to get them open. I love clamshells for their toughness, but that same toughness makes them difficult to open.

Sculpting – Aries, Cancer ****; Taurus, Gemini ***1/2
With some toy or collectible companies, the quality of the sculpting can vary wildly. With Mcfarlane, that’s rarely an issue. Instead, how much you like one sculpt or another is less about quality and more about aesthetics – it’s art, baby, and what you like can be very different from what I like. The quality is always there…the design not so much.

My favorites of this series are driven by my particular tastes. First, I’m an Aries, so it’s probably no surprise that I like the ram quite a bit. They went with a two footed, half man, half goat sort of look for him, much like something out of Roman or Greek mythology. The mask and horns are not removable, so we have no idea just what he might have looked like under there. He’s one of the taller figures in the set, coming in at around 6″ tall, and he stands great on his own thanks to some useful ankle articulation. More on that later. He also holds his one accessory nicely in both hands, and you can get one or two interesting poses out of him.

Next up for me is Cancer, but I can see where some other folks will have reasonable issues with him. He is not sculpted in a particularly dynamic pose – he’s just standing there. There’s a TON of small detail work, with a different texture on practically ever surface of his body. The huge claw right hand and smaller deadly left hand look appropriately menacing, and he stands great on his own even with the smaller feet. I like him because he looks like something right out of a 1950’s grade B sci-fi flick, sort of like the scaley half brother of the Metaluna Mutant.

I’m most surprised by the Gemini design. Of course, Gemini is the Twins, and while the symbol is considered ‘masculine’ in Astrology, it is very often portrayed as a pair of hot female twins. Let’s face it, since historically it was usually men doing the designs, are you surprised? No – but that is what makes Mcfarlane’s choice surprising. While this monstrous version of Gemini, with it’s two headed gaping beast fitted with rows of cruel teeth, isn’t an unusual design in general, I’m shocked that they passed up the chance to do a half nekkid pair of ladies, embracing in a pose that would make Hugh Heffner blush.

This Gemini is definitely not the usual, although the look fits with many other Mcfarlane lines. And for the female figure fans, don’t worry – you’ll get a Virgo that does it up right.

The figures are in a six inch scale, with Taurus the shortest at just over 5″ and Cancer the tallest at almost 6 1/2″ tall.

It’s also worth noting that while all these designs can be seen as similar to past Mcfarlane releases, they don’t exhibit the often ridiculed redundancies – there’s no big boots, midgets, or fat, disgusting blobs. And yes, I meant boots.

Paint – ***1/2
Nobody manages to do ‘controled slop’ quite like Mcfarlane. The paint application is done in such a way as to have a gritty, dirty, rough appearance – and yet have great cut lines, consistent coverage, and clean details. There aren’t many companies that can pull this off, and Mcfarlane has set the bar high in this category as well.

Here, they do a solid job, with only a few minor issues across the whole line. Like the sculpt, people may find there are artistic choices they take issue with, but it’s unlikely that they’ll have a major problem with the basic quality of the work.

This is very critical too, as we are seeing more and more companies fall victim to cost cutting at the time of production. This almost always means cutting back on either the number of paint operations, or the quality of the existing operations. We’re seeing it big time with the mass market boys like Hasbro and Mattel, but it’s also creeping in with the specialty market guys with recent waves. Mcfarlane is a mid range player, and it’s good to see that they paint work is remaining strong.

Articulation – Aries, Gemini **; Cancer, Taurus *
I believe I first used the phrase “Nerd Hummels” last November when I was describing another Mcfarlane line -Twisted Christmas. This series is another perfect example of that term, a line of figures designed to be small, plastic statues that fellow nerds and geeks will pose on the shelf in their sculpted stance, to admire occasionally and dust often.

If you go in expecting almost no articulation, then the low scores in this category aren’t going to greatly effect your overall (which is my situation), but if articulation is paramount for you in all your ‘action’ figures, then this situation is likely to be a deal breaker.

The Taurus has a cut neck, cut shoulders, cut waist, and only one cut leg at the top of the boot. The shoulders barely move however, and most of the articulation is fairly useless. His horns actually have cut joints too, and these might be the most useful for creating different expressions out of the joints that are here.

Cancer is even less articulated. He also has the cut shoulders, but once again, they barely move. He has cut wrists and cut knees, along with a cut waist. He also has an extra surprise joint – the smaller half of his large claw has a ball joint!

Aries has the cut neck, cut shoulders cut wrists, cut waist, and cut knees – sound familiar? And like the previous two, he also has a surprise…pin jointed ankles! Thank God he does too, because otherwise getting him to stand would be nigh impossible. With the ankle joints though, you’ll easily find the sweet spot.

There’s no surprise joints on Gemini, but even for his weird design, he’s really the most poseable. He has ball joints at all four shoulders (with limited range of movement), a ball joint at the waist between the twins, and cut joints on all four wrists.

Accessories – Taurus **1/2; Aries **; Cancer, Gemini – Bupkis
There’s not much in the way of accessories with this series, which considering the price is not such a good thing.

Gemini and Cancer come with absolutely nothing, nada, zippo.

Taurus and Aries both have a weapon – a hammer and spear, respectifully. Both of these weapons have one end that pops off to allow it to slide through their tight little mitts.

Of the two weapons, I like the hammer design better. It has some wonderful detailed sculpting on the sides, and the nasty spikes are a great touch.

Aries’ spear is decent as well, although it tends to bend in his hands. The thinner plastic for the blades is always going to warp a little, making it slightly less attractive than the cool bad ass hammer.

Value – **
It is an unfortunate situation, but the prices are rising. But when they first start rising, the feeling of any sort of value for that rise just isn’t there. That’s the case right now, where prices are going up but we aren’t getting anything extra for it. If you’re lucky, you’ll pick up these for $12, and they aren’t even a licensed product or a specialty market product per se. A year from now, this might seem like a bargain, but today it seems like a couple bucks too much at best.

Fun Factor – **1/2
While there isn’t going to be any kid clamoring for these initially, they actually have some reasonable play value as villains and monsters in relation to other six inch scale lines. And any kid (or adult) who’s a fan of the old black and white monster movies is going to find a special place in their heart for this version of Cancer.

Things to Watch Out For –
The small arrows that go into Taurus’ back can easily be lost or broken. Everything else, including the various weapons, seemed quite sturdy and unlikely to cause you any issues.

Overall – ***1/2
I think this line has the potential to be some of Mcfarlane’s better non-licensed work this year. I think the key is that these first four can be clearly seen in the context of the Zodiac. In other words, tell someone that one of them represents Taurus or Cancer, and folks would go “Oh, yea, I get it!”. I’m hopeful that will remain so, although I have my doubts with the early photos of Scorpio and Virgo.

If youi were hoping to add these to your Four Horseman FANtastic Exclusive figures, you’ll be disappointed. While there’s some similarity in style with Taurus or the upcoming Leo, these are much too small to go with that line. Stick them with some past McToys lines like Conan or some of the Dark Ages Spawn figures, and you’ll be happier.

Where to Buy –
Larger retailers may end up with these (like Toys R Us), or your LCS may stock them. But your best bet is probably online:

– Clark Toys has the singles for $13 each, but they have a terrific price on the set of four for just $45. They also have preorders up for series 2 and 3, also only $45 in sets of 4.

– Amazing Toyz has an excellent price on these at just $12 each for the singles, or $46 for the set of four.

– YouBuyNow has the singles for $17 each, or $64 for the set of four.

– if you’re going in with some other folks, you can get a case of 12 from Urban Collector for $148, but there’s no guarantee you’ll get three even sets.

– for UK collectors, Forbidden Planet has these listed at 10 GBP each.

– or you can search on ebay for them using sponsor MyAuctionLinks.

Born Christopher Wallace, Notorious B.I.G. was perhaps better known as Biggie Smalls. Loved by some and hated by others, the exceptional rapper’s life was cut short in 1997, the anniversary just one month ago. Mezco Toyz is producing a collectible figure based on Biggie, and for the upcoming New York Comic Con, have produced 2000 variant figures, with Biggie wearing a yellow shirt, right out of the Juicy video.

Mezco NYCC exclusive Biggie Smalls figure

New York Comic Con is this weekend, April 18th – 20th. You can pick up this Biggie variant there from Mezco for $30, or through their own website.

Packaging – ***
Mezco went with a basic black and white box, with nice clean lines. Biggie is silhoutted against the white background. The packaging is collector friendly, and will certainly store easily for the MIBers, but there’s no way to see the figure inside before buying it.

Sculpting – ***1/2
This figure is done in Mezco’s usual ‘stylized’ format. What this generally means is that the figure has a bit of a caricature style, where the more prominent features of the figure are exaggerated for effect.

That has been certainly done with Biggie’s body, following a designer vinyl style. The over sized hands and feet, and somewhat cartoon body works well in that format, and this figure follows that standard pretty well.

There are some small detail additions though, like the ring on his finger. But generally speaking, the body is much like the usual designer vinyl figure.

The head sculpt is less of a caricature style than usual, however, at least to my eye. They captured the look of the man quite well, and while they exaggerated his features a bit, they still kept him in a more realistic look than usual. The use of texturing on the hair, skin and lips helps of course, something that’s not as present on the body work. I’m quite impressed with the head sculpt, and I think most fans will be too.

Paint – ***1/2
The paint work on the face is extremely well done, giving the slightly cartoony appearance a greater touch of realism. The slight variance between the lip color and skin color, the proper use of matte finishes on the skin with some slight gloss on the eyes and lips, and other techniques come together to give him a very lifelike appearance for the designer vinyl world.

The work on the body is largely well done, with consistent colors and clean lines. There’s a few rough edges here and there, and some very minor bleed can be found if you look hard enough, but for the most part it’s a very clean, specialty market paint job.

Articulation – ***
He’s not super articulated, but if you’re used to the world of designer vinyl, then he probably has more articulation than you’re used to.

He has a ball jointed neck, as well as ball jointed shoulders with articulation on both sides of the joint. These are hollow vinyl figures of course, which means that these ball joints aren’t quite as useful as the kind seen in hard solid plastic figures, but they still work surprisingly well.

He also has cut wrists, waist, hips and cut joints at the top of the boots. He isn’t going to be taking any extreme poses, but the style of figure doesn’t allow for that anyway.

Accessories – ***
He comes with three main accessories – a wireless microphone, towel and sunglasses.

The sunglasses are scaled well, but they do ride a little high on his nose. They have some nicely painted small details as well.

The microphone is pretty much what you’d expect, and it fits fine in his sculpted left hand.

I’m also counting his bling as an accessory. The large metal chain and pendant look terrific, and the chain is real metal. It fits over his head easily of course, but there is a bit of a kink in mine that I can’t quite get out. Fortunately, it can be pretty easily hidden.

Finally, the towel works well either in a hand or over his shoulder, and is scaled particularly well. That’s one thing that Mezco seems to do really well – scale clothing and soft goods in the 8 – 9″ scale.

Outfiit – ***1/2
While the outfit isn’t extreme, what’s here is very well done, particularly considering the scale.

There are three main pieces of clothing – his shorts, t-shirt and his tank shirt. All are nicely tailored, fitting him quite well and not appearing too thick or silly looking. The shirt is done in yellow for the exclusive version.

Fun Factor – **1/2
This isn’t a toy designed for kids, but rather for fans of the big man. He’ll look great on your desk or in your cube, and he has enough articulation to allow you to get some very different looks from the poses.

Value – **
The run size on this figure is 2000, which is pretty common for a convention exclusive. The $30 price tag is a bit of a step up from some previous year’s (in terms of exclusive prices), but the rise is not too unexpected. The simple exclusivity of items like this tends to drive up the price a bit.

Things to Watch Out For –
I’d take some care with the microphone, since it’s a tight fit in the hand and could rub off the paint. Otherwise, you should be good to go.

Overall – ***1/2
Fans of the rapper should be very happy with this version. Mezco reports that even his mom approved of the look of this figure, and I can see why. They did a nice job translating the real person into this style, backing off a little on the caricaturishness but still remaining true to the designer vinyl style. The marriage of rap with this style of collectible makes complete sense, and Mezco has been successful with other rap stars in this format. While this exclusive is only a shirt color change, it’s still one that Biggie fans will want to check out, even if they pick up the regular version.

Where to Buy –
As I said, the number one spot is at NYCC this weekend. If you can’t make it, you can pick it up through Mezco’s own store at their site.

Back in the good old days, politicians traveled the country to drum up support. These trips, often by train and then later by bus, were the ideal opportunity to drum up grass roots support. When television and the Internet came along, much of the value was lost, although politicians still rack up the frequent flyer miles.

So how do you add some spicy marketing to a new movie today? Why not combine the old time thrill of the traveling politician with the current Internet viral marketing process? That’s what Warner Brothers has done for the new Batman flick – The Dark Knight. Harvey Dent is in this second film in the current franchise, played by always smooth and political Aaron Eckhart. To help promote the film, they put together a campaign for Harvey, which is supported by a very well done website at isupportharveydent.com. For one week or so, the ‘Dentmobile’ traveled across the U.S., stopping in various towns (especially college towns) to hand out t-shirts, bumper stickers, and other goodies so that you can show your support for the DA of Gotham City and his fight to take back the city.

I live in Ann Arbor, Michigan, a town blessed by not one but TWO large universities. You couldn’t get a town more ripe for this sort of nerdfest, and the promoters knew it, scheduling three separate stops around town. At 11am, I headed over to the Briarwood Mall, the first stop on their route around the city. Now, while Warner Brothers knew AA was a town to hit, apparently the Briarwood Mall didn’t see the value. They booted them off the property, but the Dentmobile found a home in the furniture store parking lot connected to the Mall parking lot anyway.

Being the intrepid reporter that I’m not, I managed to forget my camera. However, a fellow Dent supporter named Daniel Pearson was kind enough to take some exceptional shots and allow me to use them. Thanks, Daniel!

Once they had the logistics worked out, the folks in the van started setting up and handing out goodies. There was the usual stickers, buttons, signs, and t-shirts, and they even had the t-shirts in multiple sizes, rather than the usual “I got any size you want as long as it’s XL” routine.

A quick word about the weather – we were freezing our asses off. March in Michigan is a weird month. The weather varies wildly, with unseasonable warm and unseasonably cold days more common than average temperature days. Unfortunately for us Michiganders, the whole month has been unseasonably cold, with no real break. Last Friday, when temps in the 50’s wouldn’t have been unusual, it was closer to 30 with a nasty wind chill. Not really weather for standing out in the parking lot in your new free t-shirt.

Just to keep things lively, a few of the Joker’s supporters showed up as well, all carrying protest signs of their own. My favorite was “Dent is Two Faced”, but they were all amuzing in their own right.

Both the Dentmobile folks and the Joker supporters did a fine job remaining in character, even partaking in a bit of the playful banter. Earlier the Brinks truck was making the rounds at the mall, but unfortunately the Joker henchmen weren’t there at the same time. Brink’s guards carting large sacks of money out of the building while guys wearing white covers over their faces cavorted around them would have made for a potentially amusing situation.

The Dentmobile guys rallied people to show their support, waving their signs as cars went by. Okay, so a mall parking lot on a Friday morning isn’t exactly Grand Central Station, but they managed to get a few honks.

They also had us signing petitions, and some of the folks represented larger groups who had already signed petitions that they were delivering. All in the name of taking back Gotham City! They didn’t want to discuss the vigilante Batman…

All in all, it seemed like a relative success. I got a free t-shirt, as well as a nifty sign to hang in my office. Sure, it makes absolutely no real sense – why would a guy running for DA in some city be traveling the country, when your vote doesn’t count? – but they aren’t trying to get votes, they’re trying to get ticket sales. And who knows, perhaps Dent and his running for office has far more to do with the actual plot of the film than we realize now. I know I’ll be there on opening day…but being the Bat-whore I am, I didn’t really need a free t-shirt to convince me to do that.

Since you never know how these things might turn out, I made sure I smoozed up the Joker henchmen as well…

So remember, believe in Harvey Dent! He’s going to take back Gotham City…or at least help Warner Brothers make a hundred million bucks or so.