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

Action Figure #911: G. I. Joe Classified Series Crankcase & A.W.E. Striker

 I did say I wanted more vehicles...

 And, well, Crankcase & A.W.E. Striker was the largest one I could find, the price not being too harsh on my wallet.

 So, the vehicle itself looks pretty nice, all things considered. Technically there's room for three characters, two in the front seats and one sitting on the backseat, but there are some pegs on the sides so that some other figures can ride along too! I slotted a Jada Street Fighter, a Loose Collector and a Black series figure to show that pretty much any Bucky-Cap sized figure can fit on it... with a caveat.

 What I didn't like, is that the two pieces of grid-cage that go at the top don't hold very well. I saw a comment from just one guy saying that 'unlike reviewers' he could hold his' from it... I claim he was lying. The two little green antennas love to fall off too.

 For you see, inside both sides of the vehicle there's this weird plastic column that blocks about a third or a fourth of the total space for the characters' legs. This means that thick-legged figures, such as Jada's or Storm ARENA's Ryus and Kens cannot fit on the front seats. They also need to be able to squish their legs together a bit, so no such luck with Anime Heroes' figures either. It's such a weird design choice. Oh, and the driving wheel? I had to glue it on because it kept popping off. Love the interior detail, however.

 The vehicle comes with a few objects you can spread around, such as ammo crates, a tool box and this little cupp-a-coffee. There's a slot inside the cabin for it! Speaking of objects, the two bazookas on the top of the grid cage LOVE to pop out, so I glued them on.

 There's a tow cable at the front of the car too!

 A design choice I didn't like at all is that the  second part of the grid cage won't let you put a figure on the back seat, it's the only reason I didn't glue down the grid cage. If you want the figure to sit on it, you have to remove the back part of the grid-cage. You could also remove the seat, and why not? More room for figures at the back, they can still hold the gun on top... and due to how little space their is for the back there, characters tend to look odd sitting on it, even Crankcase himself!

 It comes with a set of stickers... which I hated. I hate stickers. But it does allow some degree of customization. I decided my Striked would be Shark themed.

 Crankcase is... an average Joe, literally. I found nothing too exciting about him. The knife and gun holsters were loose so I applied some glue.

 He comes with a pistol, a knife, two bandolier scarves, two helmets, a pair of goggles, a suncap and some binoculars.

 The binoculars look kinda odd on him due to the way they are sculpted. I see no use for them, to be honest. He looks weird with them on his neck.

 This might be an issue with my figure in particular, but it seems the waist peg is too long, so he ends up looking gappy at the waist.

 Articulation is the same as with any Joe. Double jointed elbows and knees, with swivels on his biceps, boots and thighs. He has drop-down hips, a hinged ab crunch, butterfly joints and a ball jointed waist, so he is pretty articulate. He is a bit taller than Bucky Cap.

 To be honest... I couldn't care less about the Crankcase figure, and the A.W. E. Striker was rather disappointing. Too many pieces that don't stay on very well, the poor design choice that makes it impossible to put a figure on the backseat without removing the grid-cage at the back, and the fact that sitting on said back seat doesn't look ver well... and don't even let me get started on the gummy front-machinegun that came bent out of the box and it's as soft as chewing gum. Look, it's not a BAD vehicle, it's just not... not quite as epic as I expected.

6.0

Action Figure #910: Star Wars The Black Series Lord Starkiller

 The ultimate Gary Stu is back.

 I don't know how many people were clamoring for a Lord Starkiller but I'm not gonna complain about getting more EU figures, so just keep'em comin' and I'll keep on buyin' them!

 In a surprising twist, Lord Starkiller has what looks to be an entirely new sculpt. This is surprising because, as I have written on other EU figures, Hasbro tends to cheap out on these. But not here. All new sculpt. He is not super detailed, but there's fun stuff sculpted on his back, as well as all the cables coming out of right gauntlet. But the cherry on top, his coattails are made of soft goods, and all three parts are wired, which is incredible. When it comes to soft goods, 90% of the time I don't care if they are wired or not, but in this case... it allows for such fun posing! My only issue is that the soft-plastic belt kinda gets warped on some of the more wild poses.

 Lord Starkiller is kinda what I expected out of some of the Cal Kestis Figures, because he comes with SIX different light saber hilts, all of them different, but more importantly, all of them with their own blade. They are all red, which is fair enough for a Sith. Lately, Black Series' Siths have come out with almost orange-looking blades, so I like Starkiller's red sabers... even if they could've been a bit darker. He also comes with two pairs of hands: an Open hand set, and a gripping hand set.

 Articulation wise, same old, same old. Single jointed elbows and knees with deep cuts, a ball jointed waist with very little range and the new ball-peg wrists. If he has butterfly-joints they are so negligible they might as well not even be there because they are so far up inside the torso that any additional range is minimal. He is as tall as Starkiller and a bit shorter than Bucky Cap.

 Is it worth the premium price point? I don't know. I'm quite satisfied with the figure, I love the wired soft goods pieces, I think the accessories are perfect for him and I sure do appreciate the all new sculpt... but he's never been a character I desperately needed in my collection, and I don't think his design is anything to write home about.

8.5

Action Figure #909: Star Wars The Black Series Rook Kast

 Hello Rook Kast... and good bye, we barely knew ye.

 I haven't watched Shadow Lord yet, but yes, I heard about the fate that befalls Rook Kast in the show. Ah well! I liked her since I saw her in Clone Wars, so the moment she was announced I pre-ordered her. She was definitely a face I wanted in my collection.

 The figure is pretty much excellent. Her pseudo mandalorian armor is full of details, and I love the color choices they went with. The headsculpt is kinda beautiful, although she might look a bit nicer than she really is. Unlike most Mandalorians, her Jetpack is glued onto her back... and I'm OK with it, considering some of these love to fall out.

 She comes with two pistols and an alternate helmeted headsculpt... The pistols are fine, but I find it curious that due to the shape of her guns she doesn't really need trigger fingers, but she gets one on each hand, whereas most Black Series' figures only get a right hand trigger finger! Also, sadly, the helmet is an alternate head. I saw people celebrating this choice, but I'd rather it be a helmet I can remove at will. 

 Her guns have pegs that can be slotted on her armored skirt piece, but it doesn't hold very well.

 Articulation is exactly like other Black Series figures. Single jointed elbows and knees with deep cuts, butterfly joints, and a ball jointed waist. She uses the new ball-peg wrists. The soft-plastic skit DOES limit he legs, but it's not too bad. She's about a head shorter than Bucky Cap.

 Rook is a fine little figure. I really love how she looks. There's not much I would've changed besides, y'know, allowing her to put her helmet on top of her head.

7.5

Action Figure #908: Mattel DC Premier Superman

 My first ever classic Superman, red undied 'n' everything!

 Mattel's collector's line was just announced and it's incredible and six inches tall to boot, so this may just be my last DC Premier figure... and what better way to, potentially, end on that the big blue Superman himself!

 Who am I kidding, if DC Premier gets a figure before their new collector's line I will grab it. Them's the breaks.

 Soo, sculpt wise, he seems to use a unique sculpt, I thought he was using Flash's chest again, but nope, it's a different torso. That aside, he looks perfect, this is Superman through and through. That said, since the cape is made of soft-goods and this is the kid's line... he is missing the yellow shield on the cape, but aside from that, this is a very generic, all-encompasing classic Superman figure. He even gets his squared jaw and little hair curl over his forehead.

 As for accessories, for some reason, the Man of Steel gets a chest-armor. Sure. Also a two pieces of an I-Beam iron slab, as well as a chain that can be slotted on its ends. I had a hard time getting the bent part of the I-Beam onto Superman's hand. The iron slab is a good accessory, I guess.

 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. He is a bit taller than Bucky Cap

 And not, comparison with my closest thing to a classic Superman: Rebirth Superman. Yeah, this ne looks better. Mind you, Multiverse's Superman was fine for its time, but even though this one has more limited articulation, I think the brighter colors and more muscular proportions make it a better Superman.

 I'm happy with him. Trunks-out Superman isn't my favorite look for the guy, but let's be real, I needed a classic Superman in my collection, and this guy fits the bill.... at least until the new Mattel release comes out!

8.0

Action Figure #907: Loose Collector Youngblood Shaft

 Build-a-figure? Ensamble-a-figure?

 Loose Collector has been releasing new figures inspired on Rob Liefeld's work, particularly Youngblood, and, sadly... I dislike most of them. But this guy, Shaft looked kinda cool, so I locked in my pre-order. Much like I did with the Tick, while I awaited this guy I decided to finally read Youngblood. And it sucks. It's one of the worst comic books I've ever read, it's everything wrong with the 90's in one book, I'm on issue 8 and I've seen like 5 different takes on Wolverine, and this guy, Shaft, has worn like 4 different costumes. Look, I'm not a Liefeld hater, I appreciate how his art-style, controversial as it is, basically DEFINED the 90's. But Youngblood is BAD. 

 Funnily enough, much like they did with Captain Canuck, the box has like three different pieces of artwork depicting Shaft, and in none of them he's wearing the costume the action figure depicts. What's more, I'm up to issue 8 or 9, and Shaft hasn't worn the costume the figure is wearing either. He's come close, but he hasn't worn that belt or that shoulder holster yet, so... yeah.

 The first thing you'll notice upon opening the figure... is that you have to assemble some of the pieces yourself. This is just lame. This figure is about 80 bucks, all these pieces should've come on the guy already.

 And putting the wristbands on is kinda hard, I dented the plastic with my nails trying to make room for the peg to hold the hand. C'mon, this should've come pre-assembled.

 And then we get to the figure itself... and well, this is the ONE design from Youngblood I liked, and I think he looks great in plastic. The reds and whites look very clean, at least at first, I love the flesh tone they picked for him, and the little golden highlights add some pizzaz to the overall design. He has Liefeld's trademark pouches on his legs, as well as bullet straps on his shoulders and right bicep, for some reason. The bow is a plain silver piece of plastic without much detail, but that's EXACTLY how Liefeld drew it. So... yeah, I love how he came out, except for the face. They gave him a very aquiline nose, and that's not even how Liefeld draws him, so that's 100% Loose Collector's design choice, and it does make him kinda ugly. For good, or bad, they didn't give him the classic tiny-eyes scowl Liefeld loved drawing.

 He comes with a backpack, that can store the bow on its side, two fists, two fists with holes to put arrows on, two gripping hands and two different sets of open hands as well as an alternate, angry, head sculpt. My only complaint is that the back pack, the bow and the thin arrows are all made of hard plastic, which means that if they bend: They break. This is the one thing they should copy from Hasbro's gummy plastic!

 Articulation is pretty good. Double jointed elbows and knees, with swivels on his biceps, thighs and shins. He seems to have 360 butterfly joints on his shoulders, for added range, and both his waist and ab crunch are on ball joints. The range is pretty good on both. Much like Captain Canuck, he uses the import-styled elbows and knees, but his arm doesn't love to pop off.

 All that said... the paint apps don't seem to be the best ever. Between the loose belt and the fact the abdomen piece goes into the pelvis... the paint on his abs is scuffing.

 What's more, even the white paint below the brown holster, which for all intents and purposes isn't shifting around like the belt is... is also scuffing. Unavoidable? Maybe. Or maybe it needed another coat of white paint. He is slightly taller than Bucky Cap.

 Overall? I don't love him... but I don't hate him. In all honesty, I love most of the figure, I just wish the figure came out already assembled, and they found a way to avoid all the paint scuffing. That said, is it worth the 80 bucks? Maybe. I don't regret paying that much for the figure, and at least the plastic feels much better than anything that has come out of Hasbro.

8.0

Action Figure #906: Power Rangers Lightning Collection Zeo Red Ranger

 Go Go Tommy Rangers!

 Getting the Zeo Red Ranger means that now I own every Tommy Ranger! For some reason, he was pretty darn cheap, but hey, I'm not gonna look at a gift horse in the mouth!

 Well, same buck as Green and Blue, but in Red. It's a fun, neat character design, although I don't think this costumes looks as good as Blue and Green do, it's still relatively good looking, plus, look how good all of them look together! Now if I could get a good deal on Pink...

 He comes with two gripping hands, two fists, an effect for his blaster, the blaster itself, two swords and an unhelmeted head. Did you see me mentioning two swords? Unlike Blue, he does include his personal weapon.

 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.

 He's a neat little figure. Red and gold is always a good combo, and his star-shaped visor was certainly a choice. I wish I had more to say, but at the end of the day, I've covered this buck twice already!

8.0