Action Figure #726: Star Wars The Black Series Nightsister Merrin (Jedi Survivor)

 FINALLY FINALLY WE GET MERRIN, I'VE WAITED FOR SO DARN LONG!

 The first thing I did after I finished Jedi Fallen Order was look up action figures, and that's how I ended up with Cal Kestis, my first Black Series figure. But I wanted everyone else of the Mantis crew! Nightsister Merrin ! Cere Yunda! Greeze! All of them! It's been, like, what, 7 years? But finally, finally we have Merrin.

 I would've been OK with either design, I love both her Nighsister look as well as this Spelunker outfit, so I'm just glad that we finally have her. And she was worth the wait. The head sculpt is spot on, which is more than I can say about all their attempts at Cal, but the rest of her costume is very detailed. She gets sculpted, and painted, jewels on her right wrist, the rings on her hands her necklace, the doodad that hangs from her belt... love went into making this figure, and it shows. She comes with a green energy effect that plugs on her hands, her knife, which can be holstered behind, and the knife in lance form as well.

 Articulation is everything you expect from modern Black Series. Butterfly joints, single jointed elbows and knees with good bends, legs reach 90 degrees, elbows go beyond. She has very good butterfly joints and a ball jointed waist. She also shas swivels on her boots. I've honestly been having a lot of fun with Merrin. She is shorter than Bucky Cap and both Cal Kestises

 Brilliant figure, this is everything I wanted from Merrin. The sculpt is very faithful to an already appealing design, and the articulation is really good for a character like this. The accessories are also very welcome and appropriate for her. A total winner.

10

Action Figure #725: Jada Toys Street Fighter II Vega

 You've met the Orange ninja, now meet the Spaniard Ninja.

 I've always felt that the concept behind Vega , or Balrog if you are in Japan, doesn't work. A Spanish ninja? How does that work? And Vega's special moves never felt very ninja-y to me beyond his aerial Izuna Drop. But, ah well.

 There's something about holding a JADA figure that just feels so nice, specially after going through so many gummy Hasbro figures. This guy feels sturdy, like he won't break easily. The joints aren't gummy at all, the pegs aren't getting stressed. Beautiful. Vega has never been one of my favorite characters, he always felt too tall, too lanky, he always looked much cooler in art than in game... so this is one time I'm glad that he doesn't feel faithful to the source material! The guy is BUILT, and he is slightly taller than Ken on Ryu, so he feels like a proper warrior. Aside from that, the sculpt and design is great, as per usual... although I find his unmasked head to be ugly. They went after his most updated character portrait, but I don't think he came out looking very good, so I'm gonna choose to keep mine with the masked head. The paint apps are spot on, and his belt is wired, so you can pose it around. Jada showing everyone else how it's done, as usual! He comes with two sets of hands. Two fists, one with a claw that can't be removed, and two open hands, the one with the glove doesn't have the claw, but, the figure comes with an extra claw accessory, in case he drops it, that can be slotted onto the hand, so no worries there. He comes with a masked head and an unmasked head, as well as a loose mask. The loose mask is very soft, and won't go over his unmasked head, it's just there for when he gets hit and drops it. There's also a slashing effect for his claw.

 Same standard articulation as always. Double jointed elbows and knees with great range, swivels on his biceps, thighs and ankles, a ball jointed waist and a hinged ab crunch that only goes backwards and forwards. He laso has very nice butterfly joints. So, yeah, fantastic figure to play with. He is slightly taller than Bucky Cap, which makes him a bit taller than Ryu and Ken.

 I love this figure. His proportions are not accurate to the game, but I do feel like the elevate his design to something more appealing... which I'm sure won't make Vega fans very happy.... but it made me happy! So, despite me preferring it this way, I'll be deducting some points due to it.

9.0

Action Figure #724: Star Wars The Black Series Barriss Offee

 Can't trust your friends!

 Barriss Offee is more than a traitor, she is the character that changed Ahsoka's life forever, so in a way, she's one of the most important characters in Clone Wars, despite how little screen time she had. I should've gotten Luminara too, oh well!

 So, in a way, this is a very simple a basic figure, there's not much to say, you can look at her, she's a girl wearing black with a black skirt. But, gotta give credit where credit is due. Her chest and arms are fully textured, which makes her stand out, and her cloak was given the same pattern she wore on the show which is just beautiful, so they did the most they could out of such a simple design. She comes with her light saber.

 You can take off her hood, if you wish, but her neck is flesh colored, which I don't think looks too good with her black cap. I also feel like her neck feels too long without the hood, so I'd suggest you keep it on.

 Below the skirt she gets high heels and very thin legs. I don't like this. Leia has the same thin legs that warp easily, and the heels don't seem befitting of a Jedi and makes it harder to balance her. Not a fan of this choice.

 She has nice, deep cuts on her single jointed elbows allowing for a nice bend. She has butterfly joints that allow for double handed sword wielding. Her waist is ball jointed. Legs are oldschool, so she gets thigh swivels, boot swivels and double jointed knees. They are fine. The skirt is made of soft goods, so they don't restrict her movement. She is a bit shorter than Bucky Cap.

 She's a fine figure, it's just that she doesn't have the most impressive design ever made, so there's nothing remarkable about her. But she's fine, I just wish they'd retire Leia's legs because they are very outdated.

6.5

Action Figure #723: Power Rangers Lightning Collection MMPR x TMNT Morphed April O'Neil

  So she's a Mighty Morphin Journalist Ranger?

 So... I wasn't gonna review Morphed April O'Neil until I noticed something that kept me from selling her... this Pink Ranger has no skirt! This is a different take on the Mighty Morphin Pink Ranger, so now I had to keep her!

 So, while she looks like the original release, there are some slight differences. The biggest one is the lack of a skirt, but if you look closer you'll notice that her arms, forearms and legs are a bit thicker than Kimberly's. The helmet is slightly different too, is it a better or a worse different? I'm not sure. So, y'know, while the differences are minimal, I still like this alternate take, so I'm keeping her. She comes with a nice, and original, assortment of accessories. She has two pair of hands, as expected, an unmorphed April head, par for the course, the gun blaster in one mode the bow, painted silver instead of white, the two pink arrows... and a microphone and a camera accessories! These last two  are very interesting, and will probably work to make some nice displays with other figures.

 Articulation follows the older female buck trend. Single jointed elbows, but double jointed knees. The elbow bend reaches slightly above 90 degrees, so it's acceptable. She has swivels on thighs and boots, as well as butterfly joints. Her torso has a ball jointed ab crunch and a hinged waist with not a lot of range, to be fair. It's... it's fine. You can play with her just fine. She is a bit shorter than Bucky Cap.

 She's not a better Pink Ranger, but an alternate Pink Ranger, and while the figure itself is nothing special, I think she's a fine little figure to own. The fun journalist accessories do bump the score up a bit, because those are very original.

7.0

Action Figure #722: Power Rangers Lightning Collection MMPR x TMNT Morphed Michelangelo

 Teenage Mutant Ninja Morphed Ranger Turtles?

 I've been meaning to get these crossover Lightning Collection X Ninja Turtles figures for a while now, and later this year Big Bad Toystore had them on sale... so I finally got a pair(Spoilers!) of these releases. Let's start with my childhood favorite, Morphed Michelangelo !

 Mikey gets the Yellow form. Personality-wise he should've gotten Zack's powers, but I'll let it slide because a turtle in yellow has always been a great idea, cheers Jennika! The guy has pretty much an all new sculpt, his limbs are thicker than other Ranger figures, and he also gets a hard plastic shell over his torso, unique to him and his brothers. The helmet is new too, and it gets threatening red pupils, I love it! The rhombuses on his gloves and boots are sculpted on, unlike the basic rangers, which is neat too, and I love how sturdy the plastic feels. So, yeah, great looking sculpt, nice quality, great design and... a nice assortment of accessories. The Mikey alternate head is all smiles, perfect for Mikey, you get 3 sets of hands, two dagger nunchucks and a single energy effect to use on it. Not bad!

 Lightning Collection always keeps their standards! Double jointed elbows and knees, butterfly joints, although you won't get much range due to the shell, swivels on his biceps, boots and thighs and a ball jointed waist... that you can't use beyond tilting him to the sides or turning him around, due to the shell. He has no ab crunch articulation, but he does have drop down hips. 

 Turning his waist moves the shell along, so it will limit his leg movement. Just something to keep in mind. He is almost as tall as Bucky Cap!

 Overall, a fantastic little figure. I love having good quality Ninja Turtles figures in 6 inches, particularly because most turtle figures are on the 5 inch scale, and the BST AXN figures were a disappointment.

8.5

Action Figure #721: Star Wars The Black Series The Ronin

 It was only a matter of time before we got LightKatanas...

 Full disclosure, I haven't watched Star Wars Visions yet. The first season seemed promising, but it was just a vehicle to make Season 2 just full on female led. Which is fine if you are the target audience, but I'm not. All that said, I did hear about each short and The Ronin was probably the standout, which is why we are here.

 This guy was released in two forms. A Two pack with a medieval R2D2, colored in black and white with soft goods... or this single release, that had colored skin and a soft-plastic jacket. The Black and White release while a nice novelty, wasn't something that would've meshed well with the rest of my collection, so I opted for the one that was colored. All that said, this is a fantastic, completely original sculpt. The guy looks like a badass, and while I'm sure the soft-goods jacket would fit better... I love what they did with it here, as both it as well as the belt are all sinewy and twisty, which makes it look very cool and very anime-esque. The entire sculpt of this guy is brilliant, but the jacket and belt do take the cake. He comes with two accessories. His katana, which comes with its sheathe, as well as a medieval looking pistol. The pistol is holstered and it can't be unholstered, which kinda sucks. Both items are meant to be slotted on his hip, but they come off easily... but it shouldn't matter, since the belt holds them in place very well by itself.

 The articulation is a bit of a mixed bag. He has butterfly joints, with very ample range allowing or some cool double handed poses. His elbows are single jointed, but the range on the bend is excellent. While the wrists are hinged, moving up and down, his forearms connect to his sleeves via ball joints, which adds extra range to how you can position his arms, which is a very neat trick. His waist is on a ball joint with pathetic range. I know that this is how Black Series works, so I never complain about it, but, in this case, an ab crunch of some sort would've been EPIC to give him some amazing unsheathing poses. It would've veered this figure into amazing territory. His knees are single jointed, but due to the size of his hakama, they barely reach a 90 degree bend. His ankles are swiveled. Overall, it's not bad, but if he only had had some more torso articulation he would've been one of the best black series figures ever. He is almost as tall as Bucky Cap.

 This figure is really, really good. Most of my grievances are small, for the brunt of the figure is really great, so it's an easy recommendation for anyone that likes Star Wars.

9.0

Action Figure #720: STORM Arena Ken

 Sure you can!

 I've wanted a lot of STORM figures before because they cover a lot of Fighting Game characters, but their figures were always too large! Enter STORM Arena, a true 6 inch line they decided to debut with Ken from Street Fighter Alpha 3. Seems JADA has some competition now!

 Well, this is a beautiful figure. The sculpt brings Street Fighter Alpha's anime style to life with angular muscles and vibrant colors. Seems they took a few notes from JADA, because much like their Ken, you can take the top of the Gi off, and the Gi itself is gorgeously textured, as well as given a darker red wash to highlight some of the sculpt. If you ask me, this figure has two things over JADA: Firstly, the anime style of the Alpha series is much more appealing than Street Fighter II's bulkier and rougher art, so this is a much more handsome and cooler looking Ken, and secondly, the accessories. We get two heads, two fists and two Hadoken hands much like Jada's, but this figure also includes a third pair of hands, made up of a hand for his Victory pose and one for his intro animation. Plus, instead of a generic orange Hadoken, Ken gets a much more appropriate Shoryuken flame effect. It also includes a fairly nice stand for the figure. And keep in mind the price point is ver close to Jada's!

 On a more personal and biased take, I'll admit I prefer Jada's Western engineering on the joints. As it can be seen above, the knees and elbows have the more eastern over-engineering that I don't like as much. It uses more parts, making them more fragile, and they don't look as natural. That said, the plastic and feel of this figure feels very sturdy, unlike a Figma or a Figuarts. Much like STORM's usual releases, the chest piece and the butterfly joints are made of very soft plastic, which is something I wasn't a huge fan of. Following eastern action figure standards, the feet and hands connect to ball joints on the wrists and ankles. I've had the hands come off moer times than I would've liked when playing with the figure. Also, the headsculpt's hair disconnects at the ponytail... it kept falling off, so I had to glue it on.

 Articulation is great all around. Elbows and knees are double jointed, he has swivels on his biceps, thighs and on the cut where his legs and pants meet. He has very generous butterfly joints, a ball jointed ab crunch, and a hinged waist that connects to the legs via a ball joint. He has drop down hips, but the pegs look very thick, so I'm not scared of them breaking. He has toe articulation, and you van rotate the tie on his belt. He has been very fun to pose. Most of his joints have been very smooth, although one of his knees is tighter than the other and the bicep swivels are very tight, one was clicking so hard I had to oil it. He is as tall as Jada's Ken and almost as tall as Bucky Cap.

 Update: That was at first... after playing with him for a while, both of his legs got super rigid out of nowhere. I had to oil up his hips, and even now, his legs are clicking really badly. The swivel on the right leg is so hard, that using the swivel pops the leg out now, due to the oil. Horrible. Other people are having this issue from what I read.

 So, I think this figure looks better than Jada's, but that's because Alpha has a much cooler art-style. The Ken is leagues and bounds more good looking... but that's because Jada's is faithful to how Ken looked in his portraits, while this Ken is more faithful to Alpha. Plus the yellow gloves look better than brown. That said, I prefer Jada's simpler engineering. Overall, I'll be getting more Storm Arena figures, this Ken is fantastic, despite a few minor complaints, although I won't double dip on characters I already own... which is why I cancelled Storm's Sagat, since Jada's good enough! All that said, it's a good time to like Action Figures and Street Fighter!

 Update: The clicking legs made me lower the score from 9.0 to 7.0. Yeah... I'm sticking to JADA as much as I can. these over-engineered joints are too finicky. At least he is not as gummy as Marvel Legends.

7.0