Action Figure #491: Star Wars The Black Series Zorii Bliss

  No way of telling how much bliss she is feeling under that helmet.

 Who is Zorii Bliss? She's like Captain Phasma and Bobba Fett, a character that looks cool, but does little to nothing, except she's not as popular as either of them. But, look, I like cool figures, and I wouldn't say no to someone who is trying to shard to look like Daft Punk

 Well, she looks just like she did in the movie, and I really dig the look. They could've included an alternate, visor-less head sculpt, but this is good enough, and let's be honest, who'd have her without her visor? Her pirate pistols are very detailed, as is her intricate helmet. Her costume is of a red-cherry color, and I love the dirty gold they used on her armor. Overall, she's great.

 She has the oldschool Black Series articulation, which means she has double-jointed knees, but single-jointed elbows. She also has swivels on her thighs and boots. She has no waist articulation, but her ab crunch is on a ball joint. While she doesn't have butterfly joints... she doesn't need them, she can cross her arms just fine. My one nitpick is that her holsters are part of her belt AND glued to her legs, which is accurate to the movie, but makes some poses look a bit odd, mostly when you have her crouching. She's another short female Black Series figure, much shorter than Bucky Cap.

 She's a fine addition to my ever growing Black Series collection, Y really do like how she turned out, and there's no way she won't stand out with how extra she dresses.

8.0

Action Figure #490: Star Wars The Black Series Count Dooku

 Count Drookula.

 Years ago, when I first decided I wanted to get some Jedi and Sith, Count Dooku wasn't high on my list, if he was on it at all... Well, I was a fool, because this figure rules!

 For starters, let's get its weakest bit first: The Christopher Lee likeness isn't as good as it could've been. I wish it was, but it isn't. That aside... Dooku is a very simple design, but it's the little things that make him visually appealing. Something about his aura exudes class, and he is outfitted with a soft-goods two-tone cape! His blade hilt is harder than most, which helps prevent it bending like pretty much any other saber they release. 

 His articulation is, as I understand, what set the bar for modern Black Series. Single jointed knees that have great range, butterfly joints, ball-jointed waist and single-jointed elbows that allows the arms to bend over 90 degrees. He has swivels on his thighs, which are not really necessary. He is a bit taller than Bucky Cap.

 Count Dooku is... he is a really nice figure. He looks classy, and it helps him look as if could be a Jedi or a Sith, which fits very well with him considering the council disappointed him into going to the dark side. I think he may be among my favorite Black Series figures.

8.5

Action Figure #489: DC Direct Huntress(Power Girl/ Huntress 2-Pack)

  Back in black. And no, this cold opener isn't going out of style for black recolors.

 Well, I do own a Huntress figure already, a much better Huntress figure, but... Import figures are rather fragile, and I don't want to end up Huntressless if she ever breaks, so I decided to get another, sturdier, Huntress figure. I went for this one since she is wearing a different costume!

 I think the sculpt is actually quite good, but she does look a bit lanky and I feel as if her anime-esque face doesn't really fit the style of the figure. But that aside, I like the detailing on the armored parts of her armor, I love the color scheme, and they even used some glitter on her costume to make her a bit shinier than she should. Not comic-book accurate, the glitter I mean, but it's very small and doesn't detract from the overall look. She also comes with a ridiculously tiny crossbow.

 But as per usual with DC Direct figures, articulation is where it takes a hit. Luckily, her hips AND arms can move up and down as well as sideways, which is not always the case. Both knees and elbows are single jointed, but she can at least hit 90 degree angles... even if they look a bit weird on her lanky proportions. She has swivels on her boots and shoulders for extra poseability too. Overall? She gets the job done.

 Sadly, it seems she has clear joints, which means that that plastic is a bit more fragile. Her right swivel is a bit loose, but other than that, she is fine, and this clear plastic is just something to keep in mind. She is a bit taller than Bucky Cap.

 She's one of the better DC Direct offerings, for sure. I like the degree of poseability she was given, but I think they could've stood for making her a bit shorter.

6.0

Action Figure #488: DC Direct Brainiac(New Krypton)

  Muscles AND brains.

 Lemme tell ya, my first introduction to Brainiac was with Superman TAS, so seeing him with green skin, as opposed to sky blue, ha always felt alien to me. But I needed a Brainiac, and his classic, tightie-purplies look didn't do it for me, so I settled for this guy. 

 As per usual with DC Direct, sculpt comes first... and, sure, he looks kinda mean add green, even if he is forced to stay with his legs standing wide. I'm not too familiar with this overly muscular look, but for a baddie, it works.

 The articulation is kinda sad. Single jointed elbows and knees. The elbows barely reach a 90 degree bend, the knees not even then. Legs go up and down, but not nearly as much as you'd want, but arms can move to the sides a bit. He has swivels on his neck, wrists and boots, which is something at least.

 I had heard of a few waves of DC Direct figures that had brittle clear joints.... seems this is one of them! The shoulder joint isn't broken, but his right arm keeps popping out of his socket, which sucks big time,

 The joint on his right hip is also loose, but in this case it works to its benefit, since it gives his leg more range to move up! He is QUITE a bit taller than Bucky cap.

 Well... At least I've got a Brainiac figure now, I guess. He's... I mean, it feels harsh being on it because you get what you'd expect with DC Direct, so I shouldn't expect better articulation, but still... The loose joints don't help its case.

4.0

Action Figure #487: Star Wars The Black Series Qi'Ra

  The queen of Droids.

 Well... I watched Solo: A Star Wars Story.... and it wasn't half bad. It introduced us to a few new characters, like Qi'Ra, whom I rather liked. And that, my friends, is how I wound up with Solo: A Star Wars Stoy Figures. Yes, plural, Spoilers!

 She's...  well, she looks pretty decent. The Emilia Clarke likeness is close enough, but it could've been a bit better. I didn't quite remember her looking this way... and that's because she only wears this look in the first 10-15 minutes of the movie! That aside, she does look different from other Star Wars figures, even though she shares Jyn Erso's boots!

 She has a ball jointed waist, and single jointed elbows that allow for an over 90 degrees bend, which is pretty neat. She has swivels on her thighs, and double jointed knees. She might share boots with Jyn, but her knees don't feel gummy at all! Her skirt is made of very soft plastic and is cut on both sides, so she has full movement under her waist. She is quite a bit shorter than Bucky Cap. 

 She's a fine figure to add, albeit without anything to special going on for herself. But, yeah, that's her only issue: how unremarkable she is.

6.5

Action Figure #486: Star Wars The Black Series R2-D2(Return of the Jedi)

  He beeps and boops.

 I used to own an R2-D2 figure back when I was younger, so getting an Artoo figure was a matter of time. Getting one was a bit of a hassle, he has grown rather expensive, except the dirty Dagobah version, so I got him used, somehow.

 Starting from the fact that R2-D2 is not the most detailed design... they still nailed him, he looks incredible. He doesn't feel as solid as I would've liked, but that's because part of his body is hollow so that you can store all six tools he comes with. That said, I just decided against storing them inside, since they can fall, and then get stuck and bent as you try to get them out of him!

 He doesn't have a lot of articulation, but he has as much as he could realistically have. His legs/arms go up and down, his head can rotate and be popped up, and you can pop out a third leg from below him... if you can. He has a slot in his head for some tools, and he has 6 slots on his main body, 3 on both sides.

 This is where you can store his tools.

 Those rectangles on the left and right of his body is where you can slot his tools, as pictures on the second picture... that said, getting them open was more of a hassle than it looks. Good luck! He's half as tall as Bucky Cap.

 Honestly, they did the most they could've done with R2-D2, and I feel that he came out great. The drawers on his chest could've been easier to open, but other than that, he is great!

8.5

Action Figure #485: Anime Heroes Beelzemon

 Edgymon or Lankymon would've worked just as well.

I truly love Digimon because we can have silly creatures... and then we also have the king of edge, Beelzemon. Although, despite having a description befit of a badguy, he's usually on the side of the heroes, ever since Impmon's redemption. But alas, time to go three for three with Anime Heroes' Digimon line.

 Beelzemon cuts a curious figure, as he is very thin and lanky, with very long arms and legs. As I've realized with the previous Digimon AH figures, this line works better with non-humanoid forms... in this case, he feels and looks more like a toy than the other two. The weird proportions do help, however. The sculpt is really good, as pretty much every detail, except for the emblems on his shoulders, are  sculpted into the figure. That said, there's the paint job... I'm more used to Beelzemon from the games, so the greyish brown they used for his highlights felt wrong to me. I looked up images, maybe I remembered him wrong... but I didn't, his armor should be light grey.... Except that it was this shade of brown in the Tamers anime! So, yeah, he is accurate to the anime. That said, the emblem on his shoulders is missing to dots in the middle, because it's actually supposed to be a skull. I guess they censored it for the children. He comes with two guns and two alternate hands in the shape of fists.

 On the articulation end of things, he has swivels on his arms, ball jointed shoulders and hips, and double-jointed elbows and knees. He also has drop-down hips.

 His tail is on a small ball-joint, but it's pre-posed in a weird curvy shape, so it's not very useful. So yeah, you'll mostly just move it out of the way rather than use it to pose it. All the bolts on his back can be rotated.

 But he has a very interesting feature. If you compare the two phots above you'll notice that the gap in his waist is gone. That's because you can pop it out of place in order to let him use his double-ball-jointed waist to full effect. It's not a lot of range, but, it's a neat idea.

 The grip on his guns is a bit loose, expect him to drop his guns if you play around with his arms too long. He is a bit taller than the Bucky Cap mold. On another note, while weird poses are OK, getting him to stand up straight next to The Fly was harder than I expected.

 As with most Anime Heroes figures... he is a decent but unimpressive figure. To me, this Anime Heroes sub-line proves that their style works much better with non-human licenses such as this one.

7.5