Action Figure #875: Power Rangers Lightning Collection Zeo Green Ranger

 There's only so many times I can do the Green with Envy joke.

 And with the Zeo Green Ranger now I'm officially picking the Zeo Rangers as the next Ranger team I want to complete. And I picked the Green Ranger in particular because he just looked so cool with his twin axes, but I'm getting ahead of myself!

 Adam is a really good looking Ranger. While not the most vibrant of greens, it meshes well with the gold and white. In my mind, I remembered the Zeo designs being kinda meh, but I gotta say, they look really good in plastic. The paint apps are all really good, and even his axes look amazing. In short, he is a brilliant looking ranger.

 He comes with two fists, two gripping hands, a blaster, a blaster effect, a sword and his two access. The grip on the axes isn't the best because they will warp the hands, making him unable to hold the sword or blaster. So I just have him holding the swords closer to the heads of the axe.

 The butterfly joints aren't the best, the sculpt work ends very close to the edge of the arm. Kinda lazy.

 No gold on the back of the butterfly-joints, which... well, I guess they covered 95% of the clavicle ring on the back anyways.

 Articulation follows everything this line has, with double jointed elbows and knees, butterfly joints, swivels on his biceps, thighs and boots, with a hinged waist a ball jointed diaphragm. Luckily, no drop-down hips. All of his joints were silky smooth. He is a bit shorter than Bucky Cap.

 Well, thanks to his axes and his color scheme, this might be one of the coolest looking Ranger figures. I really, really like how this guy came out, and I'm excited to get the rest of the Team!

8.5

Action Figure #874: Mattel DC Premier Green Lantern (John Stewart)

 Moving on to greener pastures.

 With a new show coming out, it's no surprise that Green Lantern (John Stewart) was released so early. Not that I mind, probably the only Lantern that is as popular as Hal, and depending on when you were born, the one you like the most.

 As far as I can tell, John has a different buck from Batman, Flash and Robin, so props there! It is a simple figure, however, as the details are all paint apps and not sculpt work. The metallic green and deep black look really good on this guy, the face sculpt is fantastic too. It's a really good John Stewart representation.

 The accessories I'm a bit miffed about. He comes with a rifle of sorts, a gauntlet, chest armor... and a piece that can be slotted on either the fist or the rifle that I'm not sure what it's meant to be. A turbine? I don't know! Regardless, while the accessories are nice, I don't like that the armor and fist have to be taken a part in order to be equipped. I would've liked them to be single pieces that just went over the arm or over the head.

 Articulation is same old, same old. Single jointed elbows with an over 90 degree bend, double jointed knees and swivels on his waist, thighs and boots. It's a competent choice that allows him to be played with just fine.

 As for the comparison with the DCUC figure? Well, I loved the old DCUC John, the matte black, but metallic green arm bands was just oozing with style, and the head-sculpt was among the best ones in the line. But... yeah, this one looks much nicer. The new proportions make him look much more powerful, the articulation is better and the paint is better, even if I do miss the matte finish. A cool little detail: The new one has green irises! Just like he did on the Animated Show!

 The old figure does have something the new one doesn't: The ring was properly sculpted. The new one just gets a flat, green circle, while the old one had a tiny Green Lantern Corps logo sculpted on his hand. He is a bit taller than Bucky Cap.

 Probably one of the better releases so far. The sculpt? Fantastic. The paint and color choices? All just perfect. The accessories? While not my first choice for how they work, they all fit him perfectly. A nice rifle, armor, a giant green fist... it's all just perfect. So... Yeah, best Premier figure so far.

8.0

Action Figure #873: Hiya Toys Persona 5 Joker

 What a bunch of jokers!

 Well, I wasn't quite satisfied with Figma's take on Persona 5's Joker so the moment I learned of this figure I decided that, hey! Why not give somebody else a chance? It is a good character design, and if it means getting more Shin Megami Tensei figures... I'm up for it!

 Design wise, it is a nicely sculpted figure, although they took some liberties with him. At first glance, he is Joker, and it's not until you look closer that you'll notice that his pants and boots have sculpted details that the official art and 3D model don't have. What's more, all the buttons on his jacket and pants fly are painted silver... when they went black in the source material. This is not a deal breaker, and while I don't think these details make it better, even as an action figure, they are worth pointing out. Other than that, the proportions are good, maybe the hands are a bit too small, the figure itself looks good.

 He comes with five pairs of hands: Trigger fingers, Fists, Gripping hands, Open hands and Fancy open hands, an alternate hair piece that comes with the mask, an alternate face plate, his pistol, his knife, a really, really tall figure stand and a static Morgana statuette. 

 The paint apps on his face plates is very soft, so both face look nigh identical. One is slightly angrier and has pink lips instead of a line for a mouth. That's it.

 The soft plastic on the jacket seems kinda brittle, I pulled up its coattails and it's already tearing.

 Articulation is acceptable. He gets double jointed elbows and knees, with toe articulation and a ball jointed waist with little range. Sadly, he doesn't have butterfly joints, or swivels anywhere! At least, the ball joints on his hips and shoulders allow you to rotate the limbs slotted there, which while not as generous as thigh and bicep swivels, allow you some extra poseability. He has drop down hips too.

 And now, the Figma comparison. Figma is much less detailed, which also makes it much sleeker... and closer to the source material. The paint apps on the face are much sharper too. Figma has a matte finish, which Hiya Toys' doesn't. But, the reason I bought this one, is that articulation on the Figma was very lackluster... and this one suffers from the same pitfalls! No swivels, no butterfly joints, a pelvis designed as to hurt the hip articulation... I do think Hiya Toys' articulation is marginally better, but that's not good enough.

 So why get Hiya Toys' Joker over Figma? It's taller so it mixes better with a six inch collection. It's slightly cheaper. He is easier to balance without a stand. And, best of all, while the soft plastic jacket quality seems to be suspect, I like it much better than the jointed-coattails of the Figma. It makes Hiya Toys' version better to play with, while Figma's nicer to look at.

 And the Morganas. This one is a bit larger than Figma's. Figma Morgana can turn their head, this one is completely static. Figma has a more dynamic pose... but it needs a stand to, well, stand. Both are really good, but, hey, you don't need a stand with this one so it looks better on a display. 

 So, is this a good action figure? Yeah, I'd say so. It's not super accurate to the Source Material, but the design choices they made don't detract from the original design. But, is it better than Figma? No. It's not worse either, it's just different. They share many of the same shortcomings, which is kinda funny, but it also has its own. That said, this one is a better fit for my collection. It's a scale I prefer, the engineering is better suited to playing with, which is perfect for me since I love fidgeting with my figures! So, yeah, both figure are decent, albeit not great, and which one is better depends on what kind of figures you prefer.

7.5

Action Figure #872: Overwatch Ultimates Soldier 76 (Gold)

 Ain't no gun large enough.

 Seems to me I may just have started an Overwatch Ultimate collection. Soldier 76 (Gold) instantly caught my attention, looking a bit like Cable, but with this eye catching gold color scheme I simply couldn't say no to.

 The sculpt is pretty good. While he is not overly detailed, there's a pretty good amount of stuff sculpted onto his body, as well as some neat stuff he wears on top, like shotgun shells on one bicep and on his belt, as well as straps on his back. He has a gun holstered on his belt, but sadly, it's just for looks as you can't remove it. The paint apps are not very intricate, but the gold-on-grey color scheme is just delightful. That said, they could've done more with his face, as he has the scar sculpted there, but since there's no paint or wash to highlight it, it's hard to tell it's even there.

 He comes with a blaster rifle, a three-torpedo effect for it, two gripping hands and two fists.

 His blaster looks incredible, even the paint job. Getting him to grip it is not the easiest thing ever, but once you get it there... man, it's a nice look gun!

 So, for the articulation is almost great. He covers the basics: Double jointed elbows and knees, swivels on his thighs and biceps, butterfly joints, a ball jointed ab crunch and a hinged waist. So far so good, right? Well...

 This is as far up and down he can lift his arms to the sides. Yes, it's pathetic. The butterfly joints can help a bit with this, but... you won't be able to get very good side-shooting poses. Mind you, the balance with the blaster effect, while finnicky, isn't too bad.

 And... one of his legs can be raised higher than the other. I don't know if it's just MY copy, if it's because of the belt, I dunno... but this is pretty annoying.

 Also, the belt broke due to me playing with him. Lame! He is almost as tall as Bucky Cap, but with different proportions.

 This just might be the first decent OverWatch Ultimates figures I've purchased so far. Articulation is good enough, the sculpt is fine, the character design is good... Yeah, this is the first Overwatch Ultimates figures that I can 100% recommend.

7.5

Action Figure #871: Star Wars The Black Series Phase 1 Clone Trooper Commander

 Well, the Kaminoans did make thousands of these...

 A few months ago I discovered that there was a Gendy Tartakovsky bright  yellow-esque Clone Trooper, the very same Phase 1 Clone Trooper Commander here, and I knew, KNEW, that I had to track him down.

 Well, at a first glance, I think he looks dope as hell. The matte yellow paint, while sparse, evokes the simple, vibrant style of Tartakovsky's Clone Wars. He is cast on the old clone buck, so that mins pinned arms and legs, as well as a more angular helmet. On the bright side, the kneepads and elbow pads don't hang loose on the figure.

 He comes with a blaster and a rifle, both have a bit of whit paint to them, unlike any other Clone I've purchased.

 So far, this is the only trooper I've seen with the indentations on his back plate painted!

 Articulation-wise... He does have double jointed elbows and knees, but the knee pads prevents either from giving you the full range of motion. He has swivels on his bicep and thighs, with a ball jointed ab crunch. Being an older figure, he has no butterfly joints.

 Sadly, the articulation on the shoulders is a bit gimped. This is as far as he can raise his arm, and as far as he can raise his elbow. Current figures have so much better range that this is kinda pathetic.

 Here he is compared to the modern Phase 1 trooper. The new one is much beefier, and the helmet much bigger. They don't look too bad next to each other, but the new figure is an improvement in pretty much every front. That said, this one looks closer to the hand-drawn show, so if that's your thing, then this is your figure. He is a bit shorter than Bucky Cap.

 Despite the articulation being a bit disappointing, I don't think this trooper is an awful figure, but, current Clone Trooper figs are so much better in pretty much every way that I don't see any good reason for tracking this old guy down, besides, y'know, liking the yellow paint. Or you can get a modern Phase 1 Trooper and paint him yourself.

4.0

Action Figure #870: Mattel DC Premier Clayface

 Just in time for the new movie. Capitalism at work!

 A character I've been wanting to update for a while has been Clayface because DCUC's one had rubber arms which are already flaking. So, let's see Mattel's newest attempt at the guy.

 The sculpt is actually pretty good. The torso and legs do look like goopy clay, with soft layers folding onto themselves. The texturing is pretty nice. But then as you follow the arms into the forearms, rougher, more rocky shapes start protruding alongside them... which is a pretty logical transition sine Clayface will try to harden his weapons! That said, for as good as the sculpt is... beyond his eyes and teeth, there are no paint apps here, not even a black wash to bring the sculpt to life! It all ends up looking like a very flat toy.

 He has two play features, one of them is the hidden giant head beneath his head. He can open and close this jaw. I can't say I really care about it.

 Articulation is when everything falls apart. His right arm is the other play feature, because... you can only raise this arm, and it will fall down the moment you let go. Lame. You can turn this hammer hand, but... why bother if he can't move this arm to the side? Heck, he can't even hold the arm an inch higher due to the play feature. Only the hammer pointing downward makes sense. No waist articulation, no knee articulation, and a single jointed left elbow that can't swivel around. At least the legs and left arm can move to the sides. He is a bit hard to balance, but you can cheat with his overgrown left arm to use as a third leg.

 Compared to the old one, this one is a bit larger, and has proper plastic arms... but he looks like a toy, the other one was much better painted, and no arm play gimmicks restricting his articulation... only his longevity. He is quite taller than Bucky Cap, and a touch taller than Sagat!

 Well, this is my first disappointment with Mattel's new line. What few positives he has are weighed down by the very lackluster articulation he suffers from. At least he is tall, so he could be fun to pose fighting heroes... but not with his hammer due to its lame gimmick.

2.5

Action Figure #869: Mattel DC Premier Batman (Batman VS Clayface)

 Let the recolors come in!

 Nothing tingles my nostalgia more than Batman recolors. I would've just fine with a single black and grey Bats, but until he comes along I guess I'll dabble in a few of these.

 So... same exact sculpt as the other Batman but in a very light grey and black. I much prefer this color scheme to the classic blue. So, yeah, it's a good looking, beefy Batman. His belt is different, and only gets two pegs instead of three.

 His only accessory is a cannon that slots on his back. It can rotate around an arm that extends from the backpack. It can also be equipped on any of the multiple slots on the Batmobile.

 Articulation is the same as with the other three figures I got: He has single jointed elbows that go slightly beyond 90 degrees, double jointed knees, swivels on his thighs, boots and waist. For the price, it's not even half bad, it's comparable to their old DCUC line, considering how pathetic that diaphragm hinge was.

 And here he is compared to the Batman I'm retiring. It had a good sculpt, but man, that cape was too restrictive. He is slightly taller than Bucky Cap.

 It's as good as the other Batman, but with a paint job I like better. Not much else to say!

7.5