Friday, July 18, 2025

Action Figure #643: Star Wars The Black Series Ki-Adi-Mundi

 There are so many so many jokes in poor taste I could do about his head...

 Ki-Adi-Mundi must be one of the most hated Jedi characters, at best considered the worst of how the old Jedi operated and at worst a psychopath. That got dark faster than Clone Wars did!
 Well... I think he looks great. The paint apps on his face are a bit softer than I would've liked, but they paid great attention to his wrinkly old head. The overall look of the figure is very chunky, with beefy arms and legs that I do quite like. His only accessory is his light saber.
 He has the most modern articulation the series offers.  This means single jointed elbows and knees with very good range, swivels on his thighs, butterfly joints, a ball jointed waist and the newer ball pegs for his wrists. His robes ae made of soft plastic, so his legs aren't compromised. His unorthodox head makes him taller than Bucky Cap.
 Dislike the character as much as you want, he is a good action figure, with his uniquely sculpted robes and heads. I'll be the first to admit that he isn't the most pleasant figure to look at, but that's Ki-Adi-Mundi for you!
7.5

Thursday, July 17, 2025

Action Figure #642: Power Rangers Lightning Collection Dino Thunder Black Ranger

 Paging Doctor Tommy please!

 Remember that deal that got me the Abarekiller as well as another Ranger? Well, it was the Dino Thunder Black Ranger, Tommy's final Ranger form. This one has also gotten kinda expensive, although not as expensive as the White Ranger, so I'm happy I got both figures for the price of what one of them usually goes for alone!
 Well... this is another fantastic ranger design. The Black and Gold color scheme looks classy and striking, and I do love his baton weapon which is pretty unique for a Ranger. He comes with an alternate Doctor Tommy head, which has a decent likeness to Jason David Frank, an alternate set of hands, his weapon and a effect for it.
 If you'll allow me a little copy/paste: Double jointed elbows and knees, butterfly joints, swivels on his thighs, boots and biceps, a hinged waist and a ball jointed ab crunch.
 His shoulder pads are made of very soft plastic and won't get in the way of his arms. He is a smidge shorter than Bucky Cap.
 He is another fantastic ranger figure. Great design, lovely color scheme and same great articulation as the rest of the line.
9.0

Action Figure #641: Power Rangers Lightning Collection Dino Thunder White Ranger

 You wanted edgy Power Rangers? Enter the Abarekiller.

 Abarekiller is interesting because he almost killed Super Sentai, so they had to turn him into a hero. But then again, technically this is the Dino Thunder White Ranger and not the Dino Thunder Killer! I'm not very familiar with either Abareranger nor Dino Thunder, but this guy looked cool as hell... and went obscenely high in price, so the sooner I got him the better.
 Even though I'm not familiar with the character I'll be the first to tell you that this guy is cool as hell. His design is pretty spiffy for a ranger, and I love the white, gold and black color scheme, with a badass red visor to top it all off. Oh! And he gets a Shield! Well, I got this guy loose so I'm missing most accessories, but, hey, I got him in a deal with another ranger(Spoilers!), including the updated helmet, so I'm not complaining! A bit of lore, when the guy first released, the visor was missing the black outline due to an oversight, so Hasbro shipped the correct helmet to those who asked. Aside from that, he comes with an alternate set of hands, an unmasked head sculpt as well as his feather weapon and a cool energy effect for his weapon, which I sadly missed out on.
 He has the same fantastic articulation as the rest of the line. Double jointed elbows and knees, butterfly joints, swivels on his thighs, boots and biceps, a hinged waist and a ball jointed ab crunch. His shield is strapless and won't hinder his articulation in any way. He is a touch shorter than Bucky Cap.
 He is a fantastic looking ranger, no wonder he is so expensive! I'm glad I got such a good deal on him, and it included the updated helmet and weapon!
9.0

Action Figure #640: Marvel Legends Heroic Age Iron Man

 Heroic what? This is Bleeding Age Iron Man!

 Call him Heroic Age Iron Man if you want, I prefer to call this armor Bleeding Age. I've been meaning to get him for a while now because I like this look. Sure, I hadn't read Iron Man in a while, but this one time I started getting back into comics when I went to Argentina, I got a number of X-Men VS Avenges in which Tony was wearing this armor. Plus, I've taken a break from Spider-man comics and I left off during the Heroic Era Avengers in which Tony wears this one!
 I'll be honest but fair... he is a very old figure, and it shows. His proportions are very clunky, he has huge trapezoids and nearly no neck, his back is huge and the proportions on his legs just look off. On the bright side, I like the metallic red and mustard they went with, even if the flat blue paint they used for his reactors look a bit dull. He comes with no accessories, but, hey, this being an older figure also means that the plastic feels very sturdy.
 As outdated as the sculpt is, the articulation hits all the rights notes. Double jointed elbows and knees, swivels on his biceps, thighs and waist, as well as a hinged ab crunch. The only small issue I have with him is that his wrist gauntlets get in the way of spinning his hands, so you have to finagle with them a bit. He is slightly taller than Bucky Cap. 
 For such an old figure, he holds up respectably well, so I'm glad to finally add this guy into my collection. Now, if they'd update Heroes Reborn Iron Man...
6.0

Action Figure #639: Marvel Legends Blackheart

 So... is he like a hedgehog then?

 As someone that spent countless hours playing the Capcom VS series there was no way I wasn't building Blackheart even if it took me a little while.
 The first thing I'm going to mention is that assembling him was painful, he has pointy spikes all over his body, so applying pressure to put everything in place, well, hurt my hands a bit! Moving on from that, the sculpt is incredible even if he is no Holocaust! I was a bit disappointed he wasn't navy blue, like in the Capcom series, but this is accurate to the comic books so I won't hold it against him. The paint is minimal, he has a bit of a blue wash on his tendrils over on his head that look pretty cool, to the point I feel like they should've applied it to the entire figure. He comes with an alternate of fists, but I don't remember where I stashed them!
 Articulation is excellent. Double jointed elbows and knees, swivels on his thighs and biceps, with a hinged waist, a ball jointed ab crunch as well as butterfly joints, with a bendy tail. He is a bit top heavy, so the only way to successfully pose him is to take advantage of the tail to act as another foothold. I was a bit disappointed that his feet can't pivot, which would've helped a lot with his stability. He is quite a bit taller than Bucky Cap.
 Blackheart came out great! He is a pretty great BAF, great, unique sculpt nice size, nice articulation...  yeah, it's a good one! And a Marvel VS Capcom figure we had been missing for a while!
8.5

Action Figure #638: Marvel Legends Blood Storm

 So... she makes it rain blood?

 Brother Voodoo was a character I would've gotten at some point or another, but Blood Storm? Nope, never. I just got her for the BAF, and I'm just thankful I didn't have to get Hellverine too.
 When I first popped out the figure from her plastic bed I thought that she looked kinda good and I could actually like her. That quickly went away, because she feels very gummy, in particular her slim, lanky legs. Her thighs are just too thin, this is Storm for crying out loud! And, yeah, my beef with this figure are her legs, but they do ruin the overall look of the figure. She comes with a calm head and an angry head, as well as two sets of hands.
 A look at her lanky legs. Yes, those are pins. I don't mind pins, but, c'mon, this is a 2024 figure.
 She has double jointed knees, which are pretty good, but single jointed elbows that barely reach 90 degrees. She has thigh swivels and a waist swivel, but, surprisingly no boot swivels. She has a ball jointed ab crunch.
 A closer look at her pathetic elbow bend, I was wrong, she doesn't even hit 90 degrees! She is as tall as Bucky Cap.
 Blood Storm is a boring figure, with an outdated sculpt and sub par articulation, based on a version of a character I doubt many people care about. Overall, a lazy and boring figure. But, hey, that means I now have every piece for...
3.5

Thursday, July 10, 2025

Action Figure #637: Cyberpunk Edgerunners Lucy

 He really did fly her to the moon...

 Jada Toys has been killing it with their action figures so to say I was hyped about their next work would be putting it mildly. Sadly, Mezco type figures, with soft goods for clothes just aren't my thing, so I had to skip David... But not Lucy since most of her figure is fully sculpted plastic! Edgerunners was a darn good anime, so I'm happy we get figures!
 Well, this figure is an entirely new sculpt, and she looks fantastic. Lucy is not the most detailed design ever, but Jada even managed to make her multi-colored hair work. The only piece that is made out of soft goods is her jacket, which is wired at the bottom so that you can pose it. I suggest taking her hands off before taking off the jacket in order not to damage it. As with most domestic anime figures, the face is a bit off, but they have done a much better job with it than Bandai's Anime Heroes or Jazzware's Total Anime lines. It's so good that I hope they get another anime license. Lucy comes with an alternate angry head, two trigger finger hands, two open hands, a fist, a cigar-holding hand, a gun and two cables that can connect to her forearms. These are very thin and won't hold any interesting posing, plus, they don't stay on her forearms very well. They will hold a pose, but they will fall off if you try to play with her arms while the cables are connected.
 It's Jada, of course the articulation is brilliant! Double jointed elbows and knees, swivels on her biceps, thighs and boots, with a ball jointed waist and a ball jointed ab crunch. The only thing missing would be butterfly joints, but she's still very highly poseable and fun to play with. She's a head shorter than Bucky Cap.
 About anything that Jada touches turns to gold. The sculpt is perfect, and while the face is not as good, compared to any other domestic anime figure, this one is leagues and bounds better. The articulation is great, as always, and the plastic feels sturdy. Overall, she's so good that I'm considering setting my soft good bias aside and getting David too!
10