Action Figure #918: He-Man and the Masters of the Universe Castle Grayskull

 Doesn't really count as an action figure, now does it...?

 So... I've been wanting a Diorama for a while, but they are too expensive for what they are.... and then I found He-Man and the Masters of the Universe Castle Grayskull for 50usd, and while it was made for 5 inch figures.... it was so cheap, maybe, just maybe, it could work in my collection!

 Hopefully you like building stuff, because... oh boy, there's a lot of DIY goin' on here!

 This is how it looks when completely built, with 6 inch figures around it. Clearly, Black Series' figures look the best because they are true 6 inch scale. Other lines, like Marvel Legends, are closer to 6,5 inches, so they look a BIT too large.

 That said, having standing figures on the two turret-orbs don't look quite right...

 So just bend their knees!

 The bridge comes down when you slot He-Man's sword on the rock-port.

 Slotting it on the skull will unleash the yellow electricity plastic upwards!

 One side of the Castle has this armory...

 That holds two swords and an axe that you can take off from it. 

 The other side has a computer. For what it's worth.

 Behind it, there's this skeleton thingie, and the 'net' behind.

 And this is how it looks fully spread out. The set has audio-gimmicks, if you care about it.

 And this is how 6 inch figures look next to the PC. So... Yeah, I kinda regret the purchase. Most of my collection doesn't look quite right on it. And the thing  was so heavy I had to pay an extra 200usd to ship it to Uruguay! I guess I might try to use it but... I dunno. The score I'm giving it is ASSUMING you want to use it with 6 inch figures.  I'm sure that for the intended line the set is fantastic, but, if you, like me, thought this would serve you? I'd look elsewhere.

3.0

Action Figure #917: G. I. Joe Classified Series Action Man

 ACTION MAAAAAAAAAAAAN

 Who remembers the Action Man jingle? I do! But to be fair, the jingle alone wouldn't have been enough to get me to buy the figure... what can I say, something about the black and orange color scheme just looked so enticing! To think earlier this year I was writing about how I wasn't buying many joes this year... guess that has changed now!

 

 I don't know much about Action Man. I just remember the jingle and a weird PC game that started with you driving a car. But for this figure they decided to turn him into a sort of climber What I can tell you is that the orange-and-black color scheme is certainly a looker, because all the orange details just catch your attention. Besides all the climbing gear, you can tell that he was given arms that are more muscular than the average Joe, and he certainly comes with plenty of accessories!

 Thos include a backpack, two climbing axes, a pistol, a knife, two heads(One with a cap), orange googles, a grappling hook, a pouch that slots on his belt(But LOVES to come off), a spade, a lantern and a machinegun. The machinegun comes with a strap... made out of relatively solid plastic, so it's pretty useless, and it doesn't look good strapped on his torso. He also comes with a nifty climbing belt, with orange accents, and orange ropes that strap around his chest. All these tools being orange, including his weapons, make a nice contrast with the black-and-grey clothes he wears. He really is a very nice looking figure.

 My beef with the backpack: the peg is too long. It looks awkward, it doesn't stay on very well. I just opt not to use it.

 

 All the articulation you'd expect out of a Classified Series is here. Double jointed elbows and knees, swivels on his thighs, biceps and ankles. He has a ball jointed waist and a hinged ab crunch, as well as butterfly joints and drop down hips. The plastic on the guy feels very, very solid... if only Hasbro would do the same for Marvel Legends! The arm on his backpack has a balljoint at its root, and a single jointed 'elbow'. He is as tall as Bucky Cap.

 Action Man is a fantastic figure. Is he worth the price? I don't know, he sure does come with a ton of accessories, but I don't know if I'll ever use all of them. That said, he is a fantastic figure, and I'm sure I'll be displaying him a lot!

9.5

Action Figure #916: G. I. Joe Classified Series Axel 'Synapse' Soma

 The figure I never knew I needed.

 Speaking of character I knew nothing about, here comes Axel Synapse Soma a figure I happened to see the reveal for and... it was love at first sight. He looked so creepy, but so stylish... I knew, I just knew that he'd make a great addition to my collection.

 And well.... the sculpt is a 12 out of 10. The guy is a sort of general cyborg thing. Everything about the design is so darn cool. From his retroaux vest to his silver cyborg parts, being his arms and his jaw... he just looks incredible. And it also extends to his backpack, from which extends a hand with an eye. Why? How does it work? Who cares, it's so cool!

 He comes with a hook, of sorts, that goes into his left wrist, an alternate open left hand, the backpack with the arm and two hands for that arm: One open, with the green eye showing, and another one closed. The backpack doesn't stay in place very well, but it's not awful. You shouldn't glue it onto him because you'd cripple his ab crunch.

 Articulation is... the same as the other figures in the line, so allow me a copy paste:

 All the articulation you'd expect out of a Classified Series is here. Double jointed elbows and knees, swivels on his thighs, biceps and ankles. He has a ball jointed waist and a hinged ab crunch, as well as butterfly joints and drop down hips. The plastic on the guy feels very, very solid... if only Hasbro would do the same for Marvel Legends! The arm on his backpack has a balljoint at its root, and a single jointed 'elbow'. He is as tall as Bucky Cap.

 Synapse is, in all honesty, one of the coolest figures I purchased this year. I'm totally in love with him. I love finding cool poses using his back-pack arm, he'd probably be able to form a Rasengan like Naruto!

10

Action Figure #915: G. I. Joe Classified Series Psych-Out

 But his powers seem energy based...

 Psych-Out was a figure I knew I had to own the moment I first saw him. As per usual, I know very little about G. I. Joe, but the guy looked so cool. I was kinda down because he was one of those horrible exclusives, but a little amount of stock was offered on Hasbro Pulse and, well, I got lucky! 

 The guy doesn't really look like a G. I. Joe, now, does he? No wonder I wanted him! He's got this sleek black armor on him that gives him a very futuristic look. He wouldn't look out of place in a sci-fi display, that's for sure. So, yeah, I love the look.

 He comes with a pistol, a knife, a rifle and a back pack, as well as energy effects for the back pack, the rifle and an energy shield you can slot on either armlet. The shield doesn't hold SUPER well, but the backpack does. That said, be careful with the tiny backpack effects, because those love to come off too, and they are very small!

 All the articulation you'd expect out of a Classified Series is here. Double jointed elbows and knees, swivels on his thighs, biceps and ankles, and you can also rotate his armguards to better display his shield. He has a ball jointed waist and a hinged ab crunch, as well as butterfly joints and drop down hips. The plastic on the guy feels very, very solid... if only Hasbro would do the same for Marvel Legends! He is as tall as Bucky Cap.

 What can I say, I love the guy. Great design, great articulation, fantastic accessories and... really good plastic quality too!

9.0

Action Figure #914: KPop Demon Hunters HUNTR/X Mira

 Do not judge me!

 So, I wasn't like the biggest fun of the movie, my girlfriend kinda forced me to watch it, but I did like the main characters... And Mira was the first one to get stocked in Big Bad Toystore, hence... here she is.

 So... Mira was the girl I liked the least, but she was the only one in stock. But in way, it works out for the best, let's get the one I didn't like of the way first! Sculpt-wise she gets passing marks all around. All the little details sculpted on the skirt, how they got her facial expressions so well, all the paint apps are really well applied... No complaints from me here. I also really like the pearlescent plastic they used on her weapon! Well, there's ONE complaint... the hinges on her hands are flesh-colored, when they should've been black.

 She comes with three face plates, a pink stand to help balance her, she is fairly lanky after all, a ramen cup, a tea-pot, two alternate hands and her glaive. I do have beef here: Her hands are super gummy, so she has a hard time holding onto her weapon. No, really, those things are super soft.

 The articulation is what really brings down the figure. The knees are double jointed, and she does have thigh swivels, hidden beneath her skirt, but her elbows are single jointed, and they barely reach 90 degrees. Her waist is on a ball joint.

 The real deal breaker, is that the skirt is not very soft, so her legs have very little forward range.. It really hampers how you can pose her.

 And her hair is too hard, so if you want her looking to the sides, the face plates will attempt to fall off. Once again, severely limiting how you can pose her. She is as tall as Bucky Cap.

 Sculpt-wise? Brilliant figure. Shame the articulation is so subpar. That said, I have higher hopes for the other two(Spoilers!) since they don't wear skirts.

4.5

Action Figure #913: Marvel Legends Mole Man & Moloids

 It's about damn time!

 There are two characters I've been waiting FOREVER for Marvel Legends to re-release under Hasbro: Annihilus and Mole Man. Well, Mole Man is here now and he brought about his Moloids along! 

 So, the figure looks really, really nice. He is a very simple design mind you, but the ML team did what they could: The sleeves on his shirt are torn, and you can see how his pants are frayed too! They did some really nice old-man liver spots on his hands too boot. For a change, the plastic on Mole Man feels really nice and solid... unlike his Moloids which are pure gum. They are just bonuses, so I'm not going to be hard on them.

 Mole Man comes with a staff, two Moloids, two bases for the Moloids, which they don't really need, four different heads for the Moloids as well as three different heads for Mole Man himself. Not too shabby!

 The articulation on this guy is... interesting. His elbows and knees are single jointed, but they have deep cuts, so they are good enough. His waist is on a ball joint. His biceps and thighs have swivels, for some reason. They are completely unnecessary, if you ask me. One thing I notices, is that the elbows and knees are super tight. Both of them. The Moloids have ball jointed shoulders and single jointed elbows, as well as ball jointed necks. Not the most articulate things ever, but good enough. Mole Mon is about a head and a half shorter than Bucky Cap.

 While not the most spectacular ML around... I think they did a great job with him. He has all the articulation he'll ever need, the plastic is sturdy, he has a really good amount of accessories... Yeah, fantastic work all around. Definitely worth the price.

8.5

Action Figure #912: Dragon Stars Trunks (Z)

 He's gonna take you back to the past!

 Way before I dabbled into Figuarts I had discovered Dragon Stars, and I managed two get two of my favorites, Gohan and Vegito... But I had no luck with Trunks since I really, really don't care for his Super design. Well, Bandai finally decided to produce his classic Z design, and using their new engineering to boot, so I had to get it on it!

 First impressions were disastrous. Upon taking him out of his plastic shell, he lost an arm and a leg. Well, spoilers, but both arm and leg snapped into place again. The arm stays in just fine, the leg pops out every now and then, but it's a bit of my fault for going beyond it's range. But just a bit, because the other leg has never popped out.

 The sculpt is leagues and bounds beyond the quality of the other figures in the line. No, really, he looks incredible. There are folds in his clothes, everything looks just like it does in the anime, including his giant forehead. Budget anime figures tend to get derpy faces, but Trunks' is just perfect. No, really, he looks incredible.

 He comes with his sword, two fists, two gripping hands and two Ki blast effects, which is just incredible. The only thing that could've sweetened the deal would've been an alternate Super Saiya-jin head, but I'm not complaining.

 What I will complain about is this bafflingly idiotic design choice. His sword can't fit in the scabbard, so it includes a second sword, or rather, half of a sword that you can slot in. Why? Why not just make the scabbard fit the whole thing? It makes no sense. C'mon, Bandai, you are SO close to truly great budget figures.

 Articulation is, as per usual, almost great. Elbows and knees are double jointed, and the rang is fantastic on both. He has bicep swivels, and the shoulders connect to the torso via a double ball-joint, which while not as good as proper butterfly joints, they are pretty good and allow for some nice poses. The torso is on a ball joint, but due to the way it's cut the waist is pretty much just a swivel. The problem with the legs is that he gets no thigh swivels. He can rotate his legs around the hips a bit, but it's pretty limited when compared to a swivel. These figures would benefit SO much from thigh swivels!

 And now the comparison with Figuarts... and look, while Figuarts blows it out of the water when it comes to articulation, they really NEED thigh swivels, I'd say the sculpt is pretty comparable. Look, clearly it's missing paint, like the buttons on the cuffs oof his jacket, the belt or the soles of his shoes, but look how good the sculpt is! And it has the added benefit of not having a gappy torso, and he is wearing a proper jacket, so it doesn't look so weird and broken up as the Figuarts version does!

  More of them because I like him so much! He is half a head shorter than Bucky Cap. 

 With this release I think that Bandai has released a proper budget friendly version of heir more high end products. The sculpt is very good looking, in a few ways superior to Figuarts, the articulation is almost great and they even included a good assortment of accessories to boot! This might be Dragon Stars best release yet!

8.5