Action Figure #754: Marvel Legends War Machine (Retro-Carded)

 Too long. It took me too long to get a proper Rhodey!

 You wouldn't believe it due to how long it took me to get a proper, comic-accurate War Machine but when I was younger I liked Rhodey more than Tony Stark. Mind you, I only knew Stark and James from the TV shows at the time, but James was much cooler than Tony out of armor, and I loved the idea that his armor was a heavy duty take on Iron Man. Now as a grown up I'm much more basic, Tony wears Gold/Yellow, so I like him more. Sue me.

 It definitely took me way too long to get this guy, because he looks spectacular. He is pretty much an entirely unique sculpt that can only be used on him. No wonder he had a deluxe re-release painted in Silver instead of white, and a further re-release on the Gamerverse line painted in pearly blue, they have to get the most out of this buck! But, yeah, this guy has been on my list for a long, long while, and he was worth the wait. Beyond the work that went into making new pieces, the new pieces have a ton of sculpted detail that looks fantastic. His helmet has a sculpted flashlight on the side, and he gets two weapons mounted on his back, not to mention the blaster gun on his right arm. He truly looks like a mean, bulky Iron Man, and I love it. He comes with two fists, two open hands, two weapons for his back ports, and two effects for these two weapons. The only bad thing I'll say about him is that the black parts feel a bit gummy, but not gummy as in fragile, just, well, gummy. The white parts are cast in much harder plastic.

 Articulation is pretty great. Double jointed elbows and knees, swivels on his biceps, thighs and waist. He has a hinged ab crunch that adds a bit of range forward, but no range backward. The mounted weapons are slotted on ball joints, so you can turn them around, and the ports that hold them can move up and down partway through his back, so you can move them around too, which is pretty cool. He is a touch taller than Bucky Cap.

 This guy is the bees knees. After playing with modern gummy Marvel Legends, having a figure that feels as if the plastic isn't stressing just by me playing with him is so pleasing. But aside from that, the figure came out great, with nice poseability and a really top-notch sculpt. I wish I had gotten him sooner.

9.5

Action Figure #753: Power Rangers Lightning Collection In Space Pyscho Silver Ranger

 It's the BLING Psycho Ranger!

 Well, it seems I am getting the Psycho Rangers after all, and I've got a funny story with the In Space Psycho Silver Ranger to boot! As I wrote before, I got the In Space Blue Ranger by himself before learning about this 2-Pack. I was saddened, because now I had to buy him again. So, I get my hands on an ebay listing for the two pack, the cheapest I found. Weeks go by, the seller doesn't ship it and eventually the order gets cancelled. So now I have to go back and pray I find another good price... only for the heavens to smile upon me, another seller had listed the Silver Psycho Ranger by his lonesome, and a bit cheaper than buying the 2 pack! Sometimes, it all plays out for the better, don't it?

 Well, I've talked about this sculpt two times already, there's not much more I can add. I like the design, I think it looks particularly good in silver, and I like his gunblade weapon. He comes with two gripping hands, his weapon, an unmasked head, since I believe he is supposed to be the Silver Ranger in disguise, and a power energy hand/

 Same articulation as always. Double jointed elbows and knees, hinged waist, ball jointed ab crunch, butterfly joints and swivels on his biceps, thighs and boots. He is a bit shorter than Bucky Cap.

 Well, I love this little guy. I probably like him as much as Red, I prefer this color scheme, but Red's sword is just badass.

8.0

Action Figure #752: Marvel Legends Spider-Man 2099 (2025)

 The man in black is back in blue.

 If another Spider-man figure was due an update it was Spider-Man 2099 and I've been waiting for so long for this guy to get his due. And, finally, we've got him, and he is almost everything I wanted. 

 First, the good things about him... I love the color scheme. He looked a brighter, lighter shade of blue, but having him in hand, it's a very dark blue, which is perfect for him considering he is supposed to be wearing black, as he is called the man in black in his own comic book, but colorists forgot about that and just stuck with blue. So having this deep, dark blue is a good compromise. Then the buck itself, he is built on Renew Your Vows, but with new, thicker biceps, so he has the best Spidey mold retooled to fit him. Very nice. He also comes with his web cape, and it's also kind of garbage since it's easy for it to fall off. He comes with two fists, two grabby hands and to open hands.

 Pictured next to the 2099 re-release. This version is better in almost every way. I dug the metallic blue of that version, but most of the time he just looked purple. And the pizza Spidey buck was fine at the time, but not anymore, this buck is the way to go, and now his head matches the size of the other Spider-men, so that's another win. In other words, this is a better figure in pretty much every way...

 Except for it having gummy arms, and the clawed grabby hands not being as large. Since the blues don't match, it's not like you can give him the other one's hands. Bummer!

 Articulation-wise... it's the RYV's buck, of course he is fantastic. Great butterfly joints, a ball jointed ab crunch, a hinged waist, double jointed elbows and knees, drop-down hips, which aren't tight so they shouldn't break, and swivels on his biceps, thighs and boots... that said...

 Gummy arms and shoulder pegs attack again! The biceps just dance around the peg, and moving his arms just stresses the peg very badly, heck, stress marks are already showing. This is a common issue with Marvel Legends, this is unacceptable. He is as tall as Bucky Cap.

 The figure is excellent in almost every way but the quality of the plastic. No, really, if the plastic was as good as, say, RYV's Spidey this would be an easy 10. But Hasbro keeps going for cheap, gummy plastic that breaks, people keep having their figures' arms break, like with Maximum Deadpool. This has to stop, and it's the reason I'm not buying as many MLs as I used to.

6.5

Action Figure #751: Loose Collector/Executive Replicas Captain Canuck

 What do you think the maple leaf stands for?! France?!

 I know nothing about Captain Canuck, but he looked cool and he was going to be made by the same companies that made The Rocketeer and Vampirella, two figures I liked a ton, so I had high hopes for this one.

 Well, the sculpt is a bit of a mixed bag, leaning more into the positive end, luckily. The figure is painted in pearly white, metallic red and metallic maroon, which makes for a very eye-catching figure. The sculpt of the figure is pretty good, the muscles look great, the sculpted hexagonal mesh texture on the metallic red parts is dope... it looks pretty good. The worst bit is probably that his legs feel a touch too long, and his feet are a touch too long. The figure feels a bit gummy, however, the joints feel sturdy, so it doesn't feel as the joints are getting stressed, unlike a Marvel Legends. He comes with four pair of hands, two tonfas, and a backpack to holster the tonfas in.

 The neck piece is another point of contention, as avoiding gaps between the head and the neck itself seems inevitable, but at least his jaw covers it from the front.

 But it doesn't cover the gap between the neck and the torso. And since we are at it, something about his face looks a bit goofy. I think it's the mixture of his stern mouth with the almost cutesy eyes.

 The articulation is, for the most part, pretty good, he has double jointed elbows and knees, swivels on his biceps, thighs and shins, as well as a ball jointed ab crunch and a ball jointed waist. He gets butterfly joints, but they don't add a whole lot of range. Everything feels very loose, but everything holds in place, so he is fun to pose around. That said, I don't like the new engineering. Rocketeer was perfect just the way he was, but they changed how the arms connect. Now the elbow joint goes through the bicep into a shoulder socket. The right arm has been fine, but the left arm pops out every now and then. I looked up if it was just me, but it seems Anthony's Customs had the same issue with the same arm, so I'm not crazy.

 His knees can go beyond straight forward, which looks very goofy and can sometimes make it hard to get his legs perfectly straight. Also pictured his aforementioned large feet. He is about a hair taller than Bucky Cap.

 All things considered, Captain Canuck is a decent figure... but I expected more after their excellent Rocketeer figure. The changes to the engineering were not for the better, and he is about 80 usd, so you'd expect better than this. Both Vampirella and Rocketeer felt way higher quality and had many more accessories, so this guy feels like sort of a step down. And mind you, I liked the figure, I just... expected more.

7.5

Action Figure #750: NECA Art the Clown

 Shouldn't he be Art the Mime?

 I'm so happy I get to write about Art the Clown as I've fallen in love with the Terrifier franchise ever since I first saw Art in All Hallow's Eve. Terrifier is the best new slasher, and Art the only character as iconic as Jason and Freddy released recently.  This is the character that interested me in NECA, because if someone was going to make a figure out of him... it was them.

 The long wait was worth it, because this Art figure is nigh perfect. The sculpt is spot-on to a tee, as the figure looks as if he came straight out of the film. He comes with four face plates, and all of them look exactly like the faces he makes in the films. He also comes with a ridiculous amounts of tools and weapons, including his brutal cat o' nine tails, cleavers, knives, hatchets, a saw, a hammer... It's quite staggering, really, and they are all nicely detailed and painted. He also comes with his white doll, his black trash bag and 8 different hands to wield all this items. The one thing to keep in mind is that his hands are a bit hard, and his tools are made of hard plastic... while being tiny and thin, so you have to be careful when putting weapons on him.

 This is NECA, so articulation is limited but serviceable. His elbows and knees are single jointed, and they barely reach a smidge 90 degrees, less if you turn them. Shoulders and legs can go up and down as well as up to the sides, his feet can turn, and his head is on a ball joint. His torso is a soft plastic overlay, and it seems like he has an ab crunch, but he resets as soon as I let go, so I'm not sure. Things to keep in mind: Firstly, I had to put oil on his hips, because they were too tight, and secondly, as it happens with a few figures that use faceplates instead of alternate heads, his face sometimes falls off if you handle it a bit roughly. He is about a head and a half taller than Bucky Cap.

 I truly love this figure. He looks perfect, the detail in his face and tools is incredible, not to mention the amount of stuff he comes packed with! My few nitpicks really can't overweight how much fun I had with him, and as usual with the figs that I love... below are more photos of me fooling around with Art!

10

Action Figure #749: McFarlane Toys Mandarin Spawn

 Can't say no to 3 bucks.

 So... I've always wanted a Spawn in my collection, but McFarlane Toys makes their figures on the 7 inch scale, so it was out of the question... until I saw Mandarin Spawn and his monstruous figure... even if he was taller, since he wasn't a human, I could find a place for him...

 But, well... he kinda sucks. I mean, the sculpt is impressive, the figure has sculpted details up the wazoo, and nobody can deny that the sculpt is 10/10. But the paint job is all over the place. For instance, look at his head, look at his skirt, so many different paint apps, so many details, it looks quite gorgeous, at first glance. But then try looking a bit deeper. He has these Oni masks all over his body, very detailed... and completely painted in white, so most of the detail is lost. His golden chest has a very aggressive dark wash that makes it look dirty... but no other part of his golden armor has this, so it just looks weird. And then you turn him around, and you see that they painted the spikes behind his shins... but the pouch on his belt is unpainted, and most of his back has no paint at all. Now, compare him with the very first Mandarin Spawn, or the Mandarin Spawn DX, and you'll see that his back is meant to have golden paint too. His legs have a lot of unpainted details that WERE painted in the old, initial release. So, yeah... it's a great sculpt, but the uninspired paint apps do it a disservice. He should come with two weapons, but look at the photo of the box I took... Mine was missing one of his weapons!! Lame!! Ah, well, he was only 3 bucks at Big Bad Toystore so I don't care.

 And then comes the articulation... He has butterfly joints, but the added range is negligible. His elbows are single jointed via a ball joint, but at least the arms bend slightly further than 90 degrees. He has a ball jointed ab crunch and ball jointed waist, and they are decent enough. But the big issue comes with the legs... the skirt is relatively pliable, but he has that golden belt-thing over his pelvis that kills any kicking potential he could've had, so besides moving his legs to the sides, there's not much he can do with his legs. At least the knees are double jointed. And lastly, his head is on a double ended ball joint, but you can barely get him to look up or down, truly pathetic.

 The one good thing I have to say is that his shoulder pads go over his shoulders, so at least those don't limit his movement. He is about four heads taller than Bucky Cap.

 I'm absolutely underwhelmed by this figure. I know, I know, I paid only 3 bucks, but even then... he feels so cheap. In paint apps, in articulation... McFarlane was known as a pioneer of action figures, so what gives? This figure is abysmal.

3.0

Action Figure #748: STORM Arena Baki

 So... the toy of Ogre?

 I'm not the biggest Baki fan ever, although I've read and enjoyed every single volume released and up to date with Baki Rahen, but I knew the moment that STORM Arena announced him that I needed him in my collection

 The sculpt is absolutely beautiful. Baki is a tiny guy, but they crammed the guy with detail. The muscles all look just like Itagaki draws them, even the proportions are a good match... although Itagaki has been drawing fatter hands lately, but that's neither here nor there. All the scars on Baki's body? Both sculpted and painted. About the only complaint I have is that STORM loves their soft plastic torsos, which I don't like as much, but still. He comes with two fists, two cupping hands and two martial arts hands, as well as an alternate screaming head, which I don't like at all, and, just like Ken, a pretty neat stand to hold the figure.

 Articulation is excellent. Double jointed elbows and knees, swivels on his biceps and thighs, a ball jointed ab crunch, as well as a hinged waist that connects to the hips by a ball joint too, not to mention the butterfly joints and drop down hips... but with sturdy plastic, something that Hasbro would never. He also has toe joints, and you can even get him in the triceratops stance... but a stand will have to help him stand! All that said, much like Ken, eventually his nice, smooth joints... well, his left shoulder got clickingly stiff, but I managed to fix it with oil. Still, much better than Ken that got stuck hips and overly-tight bicep swivels! Baki is a short king, standing a head shorter than Bucky Cap.

 Well, Baki is another almost-amazing figure. The sculpt is absolutely phenomenal, and the articulation would be amazing IF everything worked right. That said, I do think that Baki is a bit closer because, at least so far, only one of his joints got creaky.

8.0