Action Figure #787: Star Wars The Black Series Battle Droid

 Stormtroopers always miss, Battle Droids are comic relief. When can we get proper villains?!

 It sure took a looooooooooooooooooooooooooooooon while, but I've finally got a proper, basic Battle Droid in my collection. In my defense, cannon fodder baddies were never a priority. It was only after getting my first Stormtroopers that I realized... hey, these guys can liven up my displays!

 Well, there's not much to say here. The Battle Droid has a rather simple design, so this translates into a basic action figure. He has a bit of silver paint here and there, and its two eyes are painted on its head, but that's about it. To be fair, I really don't think that much more could've done this this design. He comes with a backpack and a transceiver, but he can only equip one at a time on his back, he also comes with a blaster, which can be holster on his backpack.

 Articulation is kinda interesting. Its neck connects to the torso through a hinge, which can be rotated. The end of the neck connects to a ball joint to the head, which gives it a nice amount of range, and the back of its head has a piece that can be moved up and down on a hinge too. The torso connects to the abdomen via a hinge that gives it a bit of an ab crunch, but it can't be turn, nor can his waist, so its torso will always face forwards. The abdomen is on a sort of hinge with the hips so the only thing that stops him from rotating its torso a full 360 degrees are its legs! The shoulders are on a ball joint, so it can move up and down, as well as to the sides. The 'biceps' and 'forearms' have swivels on them, as well as his hinged wrists. The elbow is single jointed but hits over 90 degrees when bent, its legs are single jointed, but this robot can pretty much hit its butt with its heel! Its ankles have a swivel to help with posing. And help you'll need, because getting this guy to stand is a pain in the butt! I think the backpack helps add some balancing to it, because posing him with the backpack felt easier.

 The one big issue with its legs is that... that's as far as its split goes. Lame! It is a bit taller than Bucky Cap.

 I'm going to be frank, I don't really care about the Battle Droid. I think they did pretty well, or nearly the best since the legs could've had more range, and he could've been easier to stand, but it's a simple design, and that's all it's meant to be.

5.0

Action Figure #786: Star Wars The Black Series Wrecker (The Bad Batch)

 This is the Bad Batch, not the Wrecking Crew.

 As one could've expected from Echo last month, now I'm going to collect the Bad Batch. Up next is Wrecker (Bad Batch) whom I found for really cheap. Actually, I made an offer to an Ebay seller, but she couldn't find it, I got refunded... just in time to find an even cheaper alternative! Lucky!

 This is one of the bulkier Black Series' figures, and I really dig it. The guy looks really mean, from his cocky smirk to his bulky build, it's almost a shame that this is one of the good guys! He has been given a cheap looking weathered effect on his armor, by adding some silver paint here and there, but it's nothing special... nor necessary. He comes with a backpack, that stays on very snuggly, his helmet, that fits like a glove, a knife and a blaster pistol. 

 Articulation is, well, what you'd expect. Single jointed elbows and knees, which go a bit beyond 90 degrees and a ball jointed waist. He has butterfly joints, which serve no purpose, and swivels on his thighs, which you must use to get the most out of his hips. He is a hair taller than Bucky Cap.

 Well... I think he is a phenomenal figure. Articulation hits all the necessary notes, the sculpt is really good, I dig his accessories and how he can wield them, which bears mentioning since Din Djarin can't even hold his knife!

8.5

Action Figure #785: Marvel Legends Shriek

 Shriek buck this, Shriek buck that... about time I got Shriek!

 Like I said on the Hydro Man entry, I'm going to try to get more Spider-Man characters I skipped, and today, it's all about Shriek who just happened to be Carnage's girlfriend. Then they adopted doppleganger. And joined up with the Demogoblin... the 80's and 90's were wild man!

 So, this girl comes with a belt, a bracelet and 3 pairs of hands. I bought her second hand, for less than 10usd, so I got none of that... but I'm not gonna complain. Even if I had gotten the extra goodies... Shriek is a very simple design, so there's not much to her. I think her face looks appropriately almost kinda crazy, so they get points there. But other than that... she's not a particularly inspired design, so they did what the could with the figure.

 Articulation is exactly like the Shriek buck... because this IS the Shriek buck. This was, at the time of her release, the next step in female Marvel legends. Double jointed elbows and knees, swivel on her thighs and biceps, as well as a ball jointed ab crunch. At the time, it was better than pretty much any other female ML before her. By today? It's OK, but we've got a better buck. She is a hair shorter than Bucky Cap.

 She's fine. All her shortcomings are a direct consequence of her being such a simple, forgettable design. But they got her right, and at the time, this new buck was a nice update for Female Marvel Legends.

6.0

Action Figure #784: Valaverse White Dragon

 And now... the main event, Jason David Frank!

 Maybe I should've covered the White Dragon before the Prime Dragon, but here we are. As I said before... I've always been kind of interested kind of not in these two pack, and just the day I got my paycheck and finally decided to make the purchase... it ran out of stock. At least I only paid 20 usd over retail for these figures!

 So, The White Dragon... When it Came to Dragon Prime, there were a few things I could only speculate on, but there are enough photos and materials to be able to tell where they went wrong. The textures pattern across his body is almost perfect, but if you look close enough, there are some differences. The amount of bumps at the side of his body don't match the ones on his costume. And worst of all... The visor should be a pretty, reflective gold, not this pure yellow thing. I got used to it, probably because I love Yellow, but it's not accurate to the movie. The shield, on the front it looks perfect, but behind it looks VERY different. At least the alternate unmasked head looks pretty close to JDF. He comes with a blue base, two fists, two open palms, two grabby hands and an alternate right bracelet with the energy sword. I kinda hate that you can't swap the left bracelet and that he only came with one of these, because in the trailer you can see him using two of these blades.

 Much like Dragon Prime, there are no good shots of his sides, but If I was a betting man, I'd bet the silver highlight didn't just end abruptly there and it was just laziness.

 The articulation is top notch. Double jointed elbows and knees, swivels on his boots, thighs and biceps, with sturdy drop-down hips and a ball jointed ab-crunch and a ball jointed waist, as well as butterfly joints. You can definitely have fun with this guy.

 That said, his arms can't stay straight. In fact, I had his elbow piece come off the joint and I had to super glue it back in. He is taller than your average Lightning collection figure, but, shorter than Bucky Cap.

 I have very mixed feelings when it comes to this guy. I do think that he is a cool looking figure, but he doesn't match the source material. Maybe Valaverse was given concept art? I'm not sure. But them not going the extra mile and paying attention to the details kinda rubs me the wrong way. And that's my issue. It's a good looking figure. It's fun to play with... but why couldn't it match the movie(Or trailer, since that's all we've got at the time of me writing this!) better?

5.5

Action Figure #783: Valaverse Dragon Prime

 Not quite Power Rangers, not quite Sentai.

 I was eyeing this two pack for quite a while, but just the day I managed to get the money.... it sold out. I even asked BigBadToystore if there were any chance it would restock, but they said it was nill... so I bit the bullet and slightly overpaid on Ebay for this Dragon Prime and White Dragon 2-Pack.

 I had kind of high hopes for these figures. Sadly, every Millenial's childhood hero, Jason David Frank, took his own life before this film celebrating Power Rangers and his Ranger Legacy got a release... but while we've been waiting for years, the figures have come out, and... Let's start with the villain, Dragon Prime. Admittedly, beyond one behind-the-scenes photo and a few quickshots from the trailer, we haven't seen enough of him... but it was enough to know that this figure isn't very faithful to the source material. For instance, his shield and gauntlets are painted in a light shade of grey... when in the BTS phot we can clearly see that these should be tinted red. Another thing, the bumps on the side of his torso... At leas the White Dragon has a different amount of them than his own figure and this one. Other than that, he is fine. He comes with two fists, two open palm hands, two grabby hands and... an alternate right bracelet with a red energy blade. It has to be said... I'm disappointed that only the right bracelet can be swapped, because in the trailer we can see the White Dragon using TWO blades. He also comes with a red base. Another thing, while we haven't seen Dragon Prime from the back, the are backshots from the White Dragon, and his chest shield, from behind, looks nothing like this.

 Also, there are not enough photos to be able to check, but this just can't be right. The front part of his side is painted silver, but the half of his back is pure black? I smell laziness.

 The articulation is top notch. Double jointed elbows and knees, swivels on his boots, thighs and biceps, with sturdy drop-down hips and a ball jointed ab-crunch and a ball jointed waist, as well as butterfly joints. You can definitely have fun with this guy.

 That said, his arms can't stay straight. In fact, the white Dragon figure, which uses the same sculpt, had his elbow piece come off the joint and I had to super glue it back in. He is taller than your average Lightning collection figure, but, shorter than Bucky Cap.

 This figure is... it's fine as an action figure, but sadly, if he really is just a color swap of the White Dragon, the accuracy isn't all there. Maybe these figures were based on concept art? Either way... fine figures, but disappointing merch.

5.5

Action Figure #782: Power Rangers Lightning Collection In Space Pyscho Green Ranger

 Green with envy gone Psycho.

 Well, the In Space Psycho Green Ranger just might be the most I've paid for a Lightning Collection figure. At first I was sure I wasn't going to get him, but then my itch for Psychi Rangers picked up and.. well, here we are.

 Well, what I can I say? It's the same exact mold as the other Psycho Rangers I've written about but green. He looks nice, but I wouldn't say it's my favorite color scheme on the buck. He comes with two grabby hands, a left fist, a right energy-shooting hand, a green effect and a very badass knife. I'm pretty sure the green on his green energy hand is different than the other figures, but I didn't compare them.

 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.

 So, the Green Psycho Ranger... Is he worth the high price he is going for? Definitely no. But if you can spare the money, he is not a bad addition. Despite how short they are, I do like the Psycho Ranger buck, and I do like how he looks in green... but the Silver Psycho Ranger feels much more special, and is much cheaper than him.

8.0

Action FIgure #781: Jazwares Battle Ready Tyranitar

 So we doin' Pokemon now? Gotta catch 'em all I guess!

 I bought this Battle Ready Tyranitar by accident. Only now I heard about these 6 inch Jazwares Pokemon line, and I thought this was the 6 inch Tyranitar... but he wasn't. Oh well..

 Well... the sculpt is great. It is, this looks like Tyranitar, one of my favorite Pokemon EVER. He looks just like he looks in the games, and his spiky parts are rubbery so as not to hurt.

 The only thing worth mentioning is that the paint apps are spotty. This leg is the worst bit in my copy, but most of the paint apps in his body are kinda... missing the mark by different margins.

 This is most of his articulation. You press a button behind him and his arms move backwards and his mouth opens. Cute. But this turns him into a toy and not a collectible. His arms can't be moved. Well, you can, but they move together and alongside the mouth, and once you let go they reset. This is a toy.

 Also, yeah, the button. You have to deal with having a button behind him.

 The only true articulation in this figure are his legs. This is all the range they have. Pathetic. He is about half the height of Bucky Cap, which... is alright.

 Well... this is a toy. Yeah... I wish I could have him among my figures, but.. no, no can do. The worst part is that the Pokemon Select version is almost 100 usd... so I'll see what I can do about it, but in the mean time, maybe he ain't that bad.

4.0