Posts
With that said, I'll jump right into it with my first figure from this new line; Ironman. I'll start things off and get things rolling with the package and accessories. The package looks like it takes a little from the latest Marvel Legend waves and the last couple of Star Wars packages, mainly the 30th anniversary collection that came out a couple of years ago.
One of the things I love about packaging is the card art. I'm really glad they went this route, not only does it give you something to compare the figure to, it also makes it easy to flip through the pegs while they're hanging in the stores. I really can't stand it when a line has the same generic looking card back, so this is a plus in my book. Not only that, but they also went with a little picture on the side with a number of the figure in the wave. This also helps a lot while looking for your favorite character in the stores.
After opening up the figure, the first thing I looked at were the accessories and paperwork he came with. Now this figure came from Canada, so I'm sure some of the stuff will change when they hit the states, but it at least gives you an idea of what to expect.
First off is the paperwork... When you open up the little "TOP SECRET" envelope, you get a couple little cards with info on the characters, and you also get your Fury Files online code. Right now, there isn't much info on what the online code is for, but the rumors are they'll be for a mail away of some sorts.
You also get a nice little poster, while I'm guessing it's just a poster cause of the multiple languages, we'll have to wait to see what the US figures come with later on in the coming weeks/months as they start to hit stateside.
Iron man also comes with a little clip on blast effect, while cool in some poses, the clip on part looks a little weird when you can see it. I'm sure kids that get a hold of these will really like this feature, but I can picture most collectors just pitching it in the extra parts bin.
Now for a look at the figure itself. I was a fan of the Marvel Legend Showdown figures that Toy Biz brought out a few years ago, but one thing I didn't like was how fragile they felt. When I picked this figure up, there was a big difference in how he felt. Compared to the older Showdown figures, he feels a lot sturdier, and doesn't feel like he's about to fall apart in your hands. The plastic is a lot stronger and the joints bend where they're supposed to, where in the showdown figures, some joints were hard to get to work right and in some cases, joints would just pop right off when you picked it up. These here have an all around better feel to them.
Lets take a look at the paint now. If you can call it paint, it's more of a metalized type of application rather than a paint. If you're a GI Joe fan, you know a Destro head or a Cobra Commander face plate, it has that look and feel to it. Real cool if you ask me(well, at least not for my camera, as you can see in some of the pictures, it had a hard time focusing on his armor, I'll have to do some re shoots). Hasbro gets an A+ from me in the paint aps department on this figure, cause it's almost as perfect as you'd want it to be.
Next we'll look at the articulation on this particular figure. This is something that I'll have to do on joint by joint basis for each figure, because almost every figure has a different type of articulation in one part of it's body. I'll list off the various joints and then talk a little about them.
Neck-Ball joint
Shoulders- Ball hinged
Elbows- Ball hinged
Mid wrists- Swivel
Mid Torso- Swivel joint
Hips- Ball jointed
Knees- Ball hinged
Ankles- Ball hinged
Now, after taking a look at how he's made, more and more, I find little things I'm disappointed with. For one, His neck ball is real restricting. If you wanted him to look up or down, forget it, he can basically only look left or right. I think it's mainly the sculpt of the ball and the outer part of the helmet that really restricts this. I'm hoping this is something they look into, cause it was quite annoying trying to set him up in different poses and he always had to look a certain way.
I'm really happy with his shoulders, elbows and wrist joints... while the elbows could have been made a little better so he could bend his arms a little more, I was fine with the outcome. He's not going to be holding any rifles, or anything like that, so I'm okay with what they do, plus he's basically a man wearing armor, so you'd have to expect it to be a little restricting.
The mid-torso joint, I'm not sure if it's supposed to only twist, or if it's supposed to also move up and down and side to side. I had a hard time moving mine, I wasn't sure if it was the metalized paint, or if it was just made that way, I wish it did move a little more than mine did, but I was afraid I'd break it if I pushed too hard.
The thighs have almost a 25th Anv. GI Joe joint to them, but instead of a metal bar, he has a plastic bar. While it works, I was almost afraid at times that I was going to torque the plastic the bar was made out of and break and twist the leg right off. So far it's fine, but it almost takes a little extra small twists to get the pose you want. I honestly wish they would have just used a metal bar, I have a feeling that this might be a poor choice in the long run, but here's hoping the plastic bar lasts.
Now the knees were a sore part for me. They were real restrictive on the movement. I think they could have sculpted them to where he could have bent them a little more, if this was done, I think they would have been perfect, but the way they are, I'm really disappointed in them. You get him in a cool pose, but it could be just that much cooler if you could only bend his knee a little more.
I was really happy with the ankles. They were set off from the shin armor just enough so you could actually bend and move them, one thing companies usually overlook with ankle joints, but I'm glad they made these actually usable.
As a figure, I think this is one of my favorite Iron men... granted he's a different scale than most of the other figures(other Iron Man figures, not other Marvel Universe figures), but I think Hasbro did a real good job in putting this figure together. It's not perfect, but I think it's pretty close.
Now from a customizer's point of view, when I first held the figure, I was a little worried that I wouldn't be able to do anything with it, the plastic seemed real hard, and I was afraid I wouldn't be able to do any taking apart... but rest assured, you can boil and pop this guy with ease and he comes apart like butter.
I think he can be used quite well with other lines for customs. Both arms and legs can be popped out and into other figures, and while they might not be a perfect fit for all lines, I think any novice customizer can get them to work. I'm also excited to see the different combos that people might come up with interchanging GI Joe and Star Wars body parts with these guys, thighs, ankles and even torsos and heads... I really think Hasbro did us good with using this construction and I really think that we'll see these bad boys flying off the shelves in the next couple of months by both collectors, and customizers a like.
As you can see in the last photo, I think this line can match up pretty well with most 1:18 scaled figures that are out there today. While they might look a little big compared to some Star Wars and DC figures, I think most others they should work well with and I for one am happy to add them to my shelves.
Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed and stay tuned for my next one...Spider-man!!!
One of the things I love about packaging is the card art. I'm really glad they went this route, not only does it give you something to compare the figure to, it also makes it easy to flip through the pegs while they're hanging in the stores. I really can't stand it when a line has the same generic looking card back, so this is a plus in my book. Not only that, but they also went with a little picture on the side with a number of the figure in the wave. This also helps a lot while looking for your favorite character in the stores.
After opening up the figure, the first thing I looked at were the accessories and paperwork he came with. Now this figure came from Canada, so I'm sure some of the stuff will change when they hit the states, but it at least gives you an idea of what to expect.
First off is the paperwork... When you open up the little "TOP SECRET" envelope, you get a couple little cards with info on the characters, and you also get your Fury Files online code. Right now, there isn't much info on what the online code is for, but the rumors are they'll be for a mail away of some sorts.
You also get a nice little poster, while I'm guessing it's just a poster cause of the multiple languages, we'll have to wait to see what the US figures come with later on in the coming weeks/months as they start to hit stateside.
Iron man also comes with a little clip on blast effect, while cool in some poses, the clip on part looks a little weird when you can see it. I'm sure kids that get a hold of these will really like this feature, but I can picture most collectors just pitching it in the extra parts bin.
Now for a look at the figure itself. I was a fan of the Marvel Legend Showdown figures that Toy Biz brought out a few years ago, but one thing I didn't like was how fragile they felt. When I picked this figure up, there was a big difference in how he felt. Compared to the older Showdown figures, he feels a lot sturdier, and doesn't feel like he's about to fall apart in your hands. The plastic is a lot stronger and the joints bend where they're supposed to, where in the showdown figures, some joints were hard to get to work right and in some cases, joints would just pop right off when you picked it up. These here have an all around better feel to them.
Lets take a look at the paint now. If you can call it paint, it's more of a metalized type of application rather than a paint. If you're a GI Joe fan, you know a Destro head or a Cobra Commander face plate, it has that look and feel to it. Real cool if you ask me(well, at least not for my camera, as you can see in some of the pictures, it had a hard time focusing on his armor, I'll have to do some re shoots). Hasbro gets an A+ from me in the paint aps department on this figure, cause it's almost as perfect as you'd want it to be.
Next we'll look at the articulation on this particular figure. This is something that I'll have to do on joint by joint basis for each figure, because almost every figure has a different type of articulation in one part of it's body. I'll list off the various joints and then talk a little about them.
Neck-Ball joint
Shoulders- Ball hinged
Elbows- Ball hinged
Mid wrists- Swivel
Mid Torso- Swivel joint
Hips- Ball jointed
Knees- Ball hinged
Ankles- Ball hinged
Now, after taking a look at how he's made, more and more, I find little things I'm disappointed with. For one, His neck ball is real restricting. If you wanted him to look up or down, forget it, he can basically only look left or right. I think it's mainly the sculpt of the ball and the outer part of the helmet that really restricts this. I'm hoping this is something they look into, cause it was quite annoying trying to set him up in different poses and he always had to look a certain way.
I'm really happy with his shoulders, elbows and wrist joints... while the elbows could have been made a little better so he could bend his arms a little more, I was fine with the outcome. He's not going to be holding any rifles, or anything like that, so I'm okay with what they do, plus he's basically a man wearing armor, so you'd have to expect it to be a little restricting.
The mid-torso joint, I'm not sure if it's supposed to only twist, or if it's supposed to also move up and down and side to side. I had a hard time moving mine, I wasn't sure if it was the metalized paint, or if it was just made that way, I wish it did move a little more than mine did, but I was afraid I'd break it if I pushed too hard.
The thighs have almost a 25th Anv. GI Joe joint to them, but instead of a metal bar, he has a plastic bar. While it works, I was almost afraid at times that I was going to torque the plastic the bar was made out of and break and twist the leg right off. So far it's fine, but it almost takes a little extra small twists to get the pose you want. I honestly wish they would have just used a metal bar, I have a feeling that this might be a poor choice in the long run, but here's hoping the plastic bar lasts.
Now the knees were a sore part for me. They were real restrictive on the movement. I think they could have sculpted them to where he could have bent them a little more, if this was done, I think they would have been perfect, but the way they are, I'm really disappointed in them. You get him in a cool pose, but it could be just that much cooler if you could only bend his knee a little more.
I was really happy with the ankles. They were set off from the shin armor just enough so you could actually bend and move them, one thing companies usually overlook with ankle joints, but I'm glad they made these actually usable.
As a figure, I think this is one of my favorite Iron men... granted he's a different scale than most of the other figures(other Iron Man figures, not other Marvel Universe figures), but I think Hasbro did a real good job in putting this figure together. It's not perfect, but I think it's pretty close.
Now from a customizer's point of view, when I first held the figure, I was a little worried that I wouldn't be able to do anything with it, the plastic seemed real hard, and I was afraid I wouldn't be able to do any taking apart... but rest assured, you can boil and pop this guy with ease and he comes apart like butter.
I think he can be used quite well with other lines for customs. Both arms and legs can be popped out and into other figures, and while they might not be a perfect fit for all lines, I think any novice customizer can get them to work. I'm also excited to see the different combos that people might come up with interchanging GI Joe and Star Wars body parts with these guys, thighs, ankles and even torsos and heads... I really think Hasbro did us good with using this construction and I really think that we'll see these bad boys flying off the shelves in the next couple of months by both collectors, and customizers a like.
As you can see in the last photo, I think this line can match up pretty well with most 1:18 scaled figures that are out there today. While they might look a little big compared to some Star Wars and DC figures, I think most others they should work well with and I for one am happy to add them to my shelves.
Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed and stay tuned for my next one...Spider-man!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment