Action Figure #851: Marvel Legends Punisher (HulkBuster Armor)

 He took Cap's mantle, the stole a Warmachine... might as well steal a Hulkbuster too!

 Well, I never thought I'd want Punisher in a Hulkbuster Armor but the moment it was first revealed something about it just caught my eye. I think Frank's tiny head at the top of the huge exo-skeleton reminded me of Cyberpunk Edgerunner... or somethin'.

 The sculpt is... a mixed bag. First of all, it's a retooling of an MCU Hulkbuster, that's right, this is a MCU figure disguised as a comic book figure. The upper chest, heads and shoulder pads are the only new bits. The funniest bit, is that Frank only wore this suit for like 4 pages before Red Hulk tore it apart, but I can tell you one thing fore sure: It barely resembles how it looked in the comic book, in it he had five fingers and two toes, here he has no toes and 3 fingers, not to mention how in the comic book it had a pretty chunky torso. So it'd be more accurate to say that this figure is inspired by that on comic. All that said, I will say that this figure looks... kinda great. Something about how it all comes together is just... kino.

 Accessories is where you get your money's worth. He comes with two heads: An unasked, hurt, Frank head that he NEVER had while wearing this armor, and the actual helmeted head that he had when he did. I'm using the bandaged head because it looks so badass. He also comes with two rocket-launchers that slot on his back, a mini-gun that can slot either on one of those two pegs OR on one of the two rocket packs, two fired missile effects, which look kinda funny since the missiles are yellow and look like tiny bath duckies, four shooting effects that can slot on either hand or the minigun as well as two smoke effects. Not too shabby!

 The missile launchers are kinda bleh, they don't snap into the back pegs very well, so get used to having them come off as you play with them. These two can slide up and down his back. The Minigun slots on ANOTHER ball-peg at the side of one of the launchers, so you can aim these anywhere, pretty fun!

 This used to be a very old MCU Hulkbuster so the articulation is kinda bleh. The single-jointed elbow doesn't even reach a 45 degree bend, but he does have bicep and thigh swivels. The shoulder-pads do restrict some of the movement of the shoulders, but if you can angle them the right way, they'll slide over his torso. He has a ball-jointed ab-crunch as well as double jointed knees. It's all fairly... rudimentary. Believe it or not, he is about a hair taller than Juggernaut(Gamerverse), somehow!

 I'm kind of conflicted about this one. I've been playing a lot with him, but there's no denying that he is pretty lazy since he resembles his comic book counterpart so little, and being a retooled old buck means the articulation is kind of lackluster... But I can't deny that the new tooling and the fun accessories make it kinda fun to pose around, as much as its articulation allows.

7.5

Action Figure #850: Marvel Legends Iron Spider (Aaron Davis)

 This is what I'd call a good firmware update.

 I did mention how the Iron Spider was my favorite costume for Spider-Man, right? Well, Aaron Davis, Miles' uncle, got his own version of the suit, and it's just as epic. I've been hoping that this figure would get released for a long, long time, and it's finally here.

 I could very easily say 'same exact sculpt as Peter', except that'd be a lie. Arms and legs are identical, mind you, but the chest has his own Spider insignia, which is different from Peter's, sculpted onto him, and even his head is a bit different! More over, he has four waldos instead of three. So, yeah, newish sculpt, and it looks great. I love the color scheme on this guy, the gold is a bit of a lighter shade, and it looks beautiful next to the glossy black.

 He comes with an unmasked head, two thwipping hands and two fists. The only thing I noticed is that the waldos come off a bit easily sometimes. It's not a huge issue, but it didn't happen with Peter.

 On the other hand, articulation is identical to Peter's. Double jointed elbows and knees, cuts on his biceps, thighs and boots, as well as a waist swivel and a hinged ab crunch. The gumminess on him is acceptable, he is not as sturdy as Peter, but he is not as bad as Hasbro at their worst. The waldos have two joints each, just like Peter's, and they are hinged at the base, so you can twirl them around. He is a bit taller than Bucky Cap.

 Another glorious Spider-Man figure, I'm so happy he is finally here and that he is not as gummy as most current Hasbro figures. I have a hard time decided whether I like this one better than Peter, and that's a really fun problem to have!

10

Action Figure #849: Star Wars The Black Series SCAR Trooper Mic

 Is it time to... drop the mic?

 Would you believe me if I told you that I only just discovered they made a figure of SCAR Trooper Mic after I got Cav and Misty?! I had to rush out and get him... and boy, oh, boy, his price has doubled! Getting this guy was costly, and it's not going to be worth it until we get the full 7 member Squad. Only three to go!

 Well, he is for the most part a basic Stormtrooper recycling job. What makes him different and special is the communicator on his left wrist, shared with Kreel although Mic's is pearlescent blue, 6 short black lines under each pectoral, which are just painted on and not sculpted, and... a unique helmet, with sculpted on bits and a neat antenna on its side, as well as very pretty pearlescent blue eyes. He also has to black lines going down each side of his abdomen. I'm not going to lie, he is a bit boring because he looks so much like a basic Stormtrooper. He is also missing black pouches on his belt, which can even be seen on the boxart. Lazy!

 He comes with two accessories, his blaster pistol and... his backpack.

 The backpack is garbage, that thing barely sticks on, and if you get it to fit in... it falls off very easily, I just super glued it on his back.

 The backpack can open up... cool, I guess? Maybe?

 He's got the same articulation as any other modern Stormtrooper. Single jointed elbows and knees that can bend over 90 degrees, thigh swivels so that he can lift his legs, butterfly joints and a ver generous ball jointed ab crunch. In Mic's case, his joints have been very, very tight and I've had trouble getting him to stand. He is almost as tall as Bucky Cap.

 He is... he is bleh. Between his boring look and his tight joints I can't say I much care for him, particularly considering how expensive he is now. I'll only feel happy about owning him once we get the rest of the SCAR team.

6.0

Action Figure #848: Star Wars The Black Series Darth Traya

 Grannies can be Sith too!

 I've been wondering about Darth Traya for a while, because her floating sabers are really fucking cool, but how would you equip a toy with them? Well, they solved that in a pretty elegant way if I do say so myself!

 So... I still haven't played KOTOR II, so I still don't know much about her besides seeing her in the Galaxy Heroes Mobile game, but she always looked rather badass, and I think they did really well with her, for the most part. The face sculpt looks really good, both the sculpting and the paint apps, which makes her look ghoulish and sick, in the best way possible. She has a soft-goods skirt and robes that look really nice on her. About my only complaint is that I wish her. She has two pony tails that hang in front of her, which look really nice, but I wish they were a bit longer to add more mystique to her hooded appearance. To be fair, there's a lot of official art with differing length on these, but I like it better the longer they are, and in this case, they are rather short.

 She comes with three purple lightsabers that can be slotted in three windy-energy little platforms that look really cool! That said... in KOTOR II she also uses a red light-saber before resorting to the three purple sabers... but she doesn't come with it. Since I have to Nihilus sabers I just gave her the old one. Shame on you Hasbro, you were this close to getting it right.

 Below her skirt... the same old, pinned, flimsy legs they use for most of the female jedi, and equipped with those boots that don't really fit an old woman like Traya.

 Articulation is fine. She has a ball jointed waist, butterfly joints, single jointed elbows that bend slightly beyond 90 degrees, double jointed knees, swivels on her thighs and boots and, lastly, her hands are on the old, hinged system. It's fine. Nothing noteworthy, not the best from Black Series, but it's fine. She is about a head shorter than Bucky Cap.

 Honestly, by herself, she'd be just another figure, nothing to remarkable about her... but it's her purple sabers and how they translated it to plastic that makes her stand out. I love that we can get the mysterious, hooded look with her soft-goods robes pretty easily too. So, yeah, she's a really good new addition to the Black Series.

8.0

Action Figure #847: Star Wars The Black Series Darth Nihilus (Darth Traya 2-Pack)

 Bigger, meaner, better.

 I'll just come out and say it: The new Darth Nihilus is fantastic, and is everything the original release should've been. They pretty much fixed everything that was wrong with the original and then some.

 So, out of the box, this pretty much a Anakin reuse... and I love it. The new Anakin and Obi-Wan figures are incredible, and I'm surprised they haven't used those bucks again. Well, here it is. About the only unique things on him are his head, his arms, the soft-good robes and the soft plastic belt, everything else is recycled. But unlike the previous iteration of Nihilus, this time it makes sense. His only accessory is his saber, and this time, he can hold it very tightly. About time!

 My only nitpicks are... the white paint on his face could've used another layer to make it a deeper white. He could've had some kind of energy effect for his Force-Absorbing ability. Maybe a longer, wider cape. But, really, it's just nitpicking, the figure is fantastic the way it is.

 Same great articulation as Anaking. Butterfly-joints, a ball jointed waist, single-jointed elbows and knees with deep cuts, the new wrist-pegs and boot swivels.

 And... comparison! The new figure is better in pretty much every way. His legs can finally get close together, his elbow bend is much better, the knee bend is pretty much identical, he has a new head that is more narrow and cooler... and while the saber hilt has less paint this actually makes it more accurate to the source material! The only thing the previous one did better... is that I feel the sculpted, soft-plastic torn robes are a bit better looking than the simple soft-goods, but it's not a big deal... oh! And the white on his face is much white, which does look better... but I wouldn't pick the previous figure over this one under no circumstance. Oh! And he is about half a head taller, making him a touch higher than Bucky Cap, which is just perfect.

 Absolute knock-out, this figure is glorious. This is one of the coolest Siths that Black Series has released, and it's a proper step up from the older figure in every way.

10

Action Figure #846: DC Universe Signature Collection Black Mask

 Wears a red hood, calls himself Red Hood. Wears a black mask, calls himself Black Mask. Makes sense!

 After Mattel recovered the DC License I swore off from buying more DC Universe figures, because as charming as they are, they were also very, very dated, from yellowed plastic to brittle legs that just broken easily. And then I found Black Mask at my local market for very cheap, and while he has gained some notoriety the past few years, I doubt he is at the top of Mattel's priority list.

 On the sculpt end of things, well, he is on the same suited buck that Mattel cast so many of their other figures, like modern Joker or The Riddler. It's not the most exciting or best proportioned buck, but it gets the job done, and more importantly, it fits the character... even if Black Mask tends to be depicted a bit more muscular-looking nowadays. It's one unique piece, his head is delicious in how scary it looks.

 For accessories, he gets a double-pronged knife he wielded once, a more classic looking knife and a solid, chunky piece of plastic depicting Batman's cowl. The two knives are very gummy, and the cowl... is unusable. No, really, Black Mask can't grab it in any way. It seems to have a slot at the back for a knife, but neither of them can fit inside. But what's worse, on the cover that mask is from... the cowl was held by a knife from the front!

 On the articulation end... Swivels on thighs, biceps and waist, single jointed elbows and knees with not much range on either, and those classic T-Hinged hips this line is known for. For as limited as he is, at least you can have him wield the two-pronged knife with both arms, much like he did in the comic book! He is slightly taller than the new DC Core Robin, but slightly shorter than Bucky Cap.

 Black Mask is OK. At this day and age, he is quite outdated, and he is even cast in a rather bland mold. But for what it's worth, the head sculpt is fantastic, and it IS a good depiction of Black Mask at the time he released. I don't regret my purchase at all.

6.0

Action Figure #845: Star Wars The Black Series Cav

 They should've named him Carv, for Carver. Since he uses knives. Disney, just hire me!

 And with the long-range specialist also comes Cav the close-range specialist! I was actually a bit more excited about this one because I found the concept behind the knife-wielding Storm Trooper nut a bit more interesting than a Sniper ST, but...

 ...they also managed to cheap out and be lazy with him. So, the good news? There's quite a bit of new stuff with him. He has a unique right shoulder pad, as well as a unique black right arm. His chest is adorned with 3 holsters for his knives, he has a unique belt, and a leg strap to carry yet another knife, plus, unlike Misty, he has his Jetpack behind him. All of this makes for a unique looking Storm Trooper, and I like that. That said... they did manage to cheap out on him too.

 Even looking at the boxart of the figures you'll be able to quickly tell that his legs are wrong. Cav has two identical looking legs, unlike the other Storm Troopers, but it seems the BS team didn't notice. Another thing, see that cool looking X carving on his helmet? It's just paint. It's disappointing considering that Thrawn's Storm Troopers had the gold cracks sculpted onto the armors. Another thing that let me down, the knives are tiny, whereas they always draw them much larger in the comic book. Who is he going to hurt with those baby knives? The knives on the leg strap also fall out too easily. But even worse, he also comes with a blaster, which he does use in the comic, but I suggest never equipping it, as it doesn't fit very well on either hand, and it will warp the grip on that hand so that the tiny knives will fall off. Cav is a melee fighter first and foremost, you want him using his knives!

 Articulation is identical to other Stormtroopers. Butterfly joints, a ball jointed ab crunch, single jointed elbows and knees with deep cuts and swivels on her thighs so that he can lift her legs. He's a touch shorter than Bucky Cap.

 I was rather excited about Cav, but I'm sorry to say that he is a bit of a lazy release. His knives should've been a bit bigger, and they could've gone the extra mile with the sculpting, just retool the helmet with the scar, and mirror the left thigh. But alas, they didn't. At least all the pouches and the black arm do make him stand out among other Storm Troopers, so that's nice.

6.5