Action Figure #674: Marvel Legends Black Cat (Spider-man 2)

 Finally a good Black Cat figure!

 I can't believe it took us this long to get a halfway decent figure of one of Spider-man's most well known allies, Felicia Hardy AKA Black Cat but here we are. Toybiz's Black Cat was notoriously bad, then Hasbro's first take looked off and was poorly articulated, the next one had better articulation but a modern and dull costume and the next one... looked only slightly better than the first while retaining poor articulation. 

 Well, this lass got an entirely new sculpt all to herself. I really do like this design, since it feels like a more grounded take on her catsuit. She's got all sorts of nifty techno lines sculpted all over her suit, with a few painted on white lines that make her feel athletic. Her forearms and legs have white fur tacked onto them as a call back to her classic comic book look. Lastly, she has goggles sculpted onto the head, and sure, they look neat, but an alternate head sculpt without them would've been neat. She comes with two clawed hands, a left fist and a gripping right hand... for whatever the hell her wand-accessory thingie is supposed to be. Hey! Miles' was the last game I played in the series! About the only things, sculpt-wise, I've got against her is that her feet are tiny, the little finger on her gripping hand seems to be missing the nail and... that they didn't paint the fingers white on the fist. Aside from those, this is easily the best looking Black Cat figure that Hasbro has sculpted yet.

 Articulation on Felicia is remarkably good even if it isn't as great as the new female buck. She has a ball jointed diaphragm with a hinged waist, she has double jointed elbows and knees as well as swivels on her biceps and thighs. Finally a Black Cat with great articulation befitting of her nimbleness!

 All that said, her arms are very gummy. At least the shoulders are not too tight, so you shouldn't be stressing the shoulder pegs, but still... this gumminess is unseemly and it is a detriment to the figure. She is a bit shorter than Bucky Cap.

 Gumminess aside, this is a really good figure and I'm so glad that we finally have a good Black Cat. Not only that, the Marvel Legends team is finally making female figures that match their male counterparts in sculpt quality and articulation.

7.5

Action Figure #673: Star Wars The Black Series Darth Nihilus

 Size does matter.

 I never got to play KOTOR 2, but I am familiar with it's triumvirate of Sith villains, a badass bunch if I do say so myself, but sadly, only Darth Nihilus has gotten an action figure so far. That said, one figure is better than none... right?

 On the outset he looks like a decent adaptation of his tattered look... but with some caveats. He is built on the very first Phantom Menace Darth Maul buck, which makes him outrageously dated. Only the skirt, the arms(But not the forearms!) and his head are new. Darth Nihilus is supposed to be an imposing presence, which this figure fails to achieve being built on the very short Darth Maul Buck. This is why people suggest headswapping the first Kylo Ren figure with Nihilus head. His only accessory is his cool looking blade... which he can't hold very well because these hands were made for Maul's saber. Oh! And he can't stand with his legs close together, the buck doesn't allow it. Lame! 

 Articulation is... well, a bit dated too. He has single jointed elbows that barely reach 90 degrees. No butterfly joints, a ball jointed waist, double jointed  knees and, lastly, swivels on his thighs. While I wouldn't say that the articulation is limited, well, the brand has gotten much better, so this rerelease of an old figure just proves it. He is a bit shorter than Bucky Cap.

 Well.... I don't mind recycling bucks when it makes sense. In this case, it didn't. The articulation is serviceable, but the figure is just very dated, and him not even being able to get a good grip on his blade is just cheap.

5.5

Action Figure #672: Star Wars The Black Series Shaak Ti

 No Force Unleashed Tribal Shaak Ti yet it seems...

 Don't ask me why, but even before watching Clone Wars I've had a thin for master Shaak Ti, I guess I always found her design very striking. So it surprised me how long it took for her to get a Black Series action figure!

 She came out great due to a smart use of soft goods for her skirt and jacket. Aside from her white and blue leks, most of her robes are made up of different shades of reds and browns. I do like the intricate pattern design on the piece that lies over her skirt, and the pattern on her lek came out pretty good.

 All that said, and I've seen this on other copies, but the white pain on her face can be a bit uneven sometimes. Mine's not too bad, but I've seen worse.

 While you are not supposed to see it, due to the long skirt, I feel like her platform boots are a bit too stylish for a frugal Jedi Master. I'm pretty sure I've seen these boots before, but I couldn't quite place from which figure. Her only accessory is her light saber.

 Articulation is appropriate for the figure. She has single jointed elbows with deep cuts, butterfly joints, a ball jointed waist, double jointed knees and swivels on her boots and thighs. Due to the soft goods, her legs have their full range of mobility. Her head sits lower than Bucky Cap's, but the top of her leks make her taller overall!

 This figure is everything I wanted and expected out of Shaak Ti. She is prone to having a few paint app issues, thankfully mine were pretty mild.

8.0

Action Figure #671: Jada Toys Street Fighter II Blanka

 And now, the fake Brazilian.

 And alongside Sagat we got Blanka as another slightly more expensive, deluxe release. This is another larger figure that comes in another larger box, you just love to see it!

 Here we have another fantastic, entirely new sculpt for Blanka. They really brought the guy to plastic
 life here, since not only does he get very detailed muscles and body hair, but I also loved the attention to detail with his anklets, being painted to look like worn iron. He comes with a neutral head, an angry head, with a lower overbite just as it looks in the game, two fists, two open grabby hands and two large electricity effects. As per usual, the figure feels very solid, unlike Marvel Legends.

 His long hair was made as a two layered, hollow soft plastic set that helps maintain head articulation and not make his head too heavy. Not a bad idea!

 Articulation is as fantastic as always. Butterfly joints, double jointed elbows and knees, a ball jointed waist, a ball jointed ab crunch, bicep swivels, thigh swivels, hidden by his shorts, and ankle swivels that are cut in a way that his leg hair is always on the front. Smart! While not as tall as Sagat, he is taller than Bucky Cap.

 Y'know the drill, another epic action figure by Jada. Great sculpt, great articulation, and, even better, great plastic!

10

Action Figure #670: Jada Toys Street Fighter II Sagat

 More Jada, more Perfect Wins!

 Well, it's time for another Street Fighter Wave, headlined by Sagat which was released as a larger, and more expensive release. No, really, even his box is about three times larger than their standard releases!

 Photos do this guy no favors, for every photo made me think that his face and the rest of the sculpt looked a bit soft, but having the guy in hand... it's nothing of the sort! This Sagat is a chunky boy, and he towers over every other release so far. While this is a very simple design he does get a nice amount of sculpted muscles, which are highlighted by having a deeper tan wash on his skin. The head sculpts are a bit simple, but this is SF II we are talking about, so it fits him. He comes with two heads, two fists, two open hands and a projectile blast with its own stand. Another thing worth mentioning is how nice and solid the plastic feels, Hasbro could learn from Jada.

 As per usual, Jada sticks to their articulation standards. Butterfly joints, double jointed elbows and knees, swivels on his biceps, swivels on his thighs, hidden by his trunks, swivels on his ankles, hidden by the feet wraps, as well as a ball jointed waist and a ball jointed ab crunch. Also, unique to him, he has articulated toes! He is much taller than Bucky Cap, being closer in height to Hulk.

 I'm a bit tired of glazing Jada Toys, but what else can I do if they continue to deliver knockout after knockout? They came out of nowhere with their action figures and thy keep showing up everyone else!

10

Action Figure #669: Star Wars The Black Series Darth Malak

 He left his jaw on the floor... in another Galaxy.

 You wouldn't know it because I stopped writing about games, but I finished KOTOR this year... a game I had started back when I was a wee kid but never finished before. Darth Malak is the main bad guy in KOTOR, and while he wasn't the most memorable villain ever, he did have an interesting design... which made it into plastic form.

 As you can tell, Malak doesn't have the most involved or interesting design ever. He has a red suit and black boots. What does make him stand out is the half-cape over his right arm, made out of soft goods, and his metallic jaw, because Revan slashed it off one time. All around the robotic jaw you get a nice paint job of the scarring, which looks really good. Dressing all in red, as opposed to black, makes him stand out from other Siths, which is pretty neat, but the robotic jaw bears a resemblance to other villains, such as Vader, so it all works out. All in all, great sculpt, they did what they could with such a simple design.

 Articulation is up to par with modern Black Series. He has a ball jointed diaphragm, a ball jointed waist, butterfly joints, thigh swivels and single jointed elbows and knees with very deep cuts. The skirt part of his coat is made out of soft plastic, so it doesn't hamper his articulation too much, but, his best feature is...

 ... that you can remove his robotic jaw! The detail on his wound and robotic voice box is just beautiful. It's not a 100% accurate to the game, but it's pretty close to how it looked in it, so I'll let it pass. It's an amazing little unnecessary detail that makes the figure feel like a labor of love from people that loved the source material. It's such a small thing, but elevates the figure so much. He is about half a head taller than Bucky Cap.

 The Black Series came out swinging with this figure, and they knocked it out of the park. They got the most that they could've ever gotten from his character design, and the result is fantastic. I hope we get more KOTOR figures, definitely.

9.0

Action Figure #668: Star Wars The Black Series Anakin Skywalker (Ahsoka)

 You were supposed to destroy the Sith!

 Considering how much I loved Clone Wars, I've been meaning to get my hands on General Anakin Skywalker for a while now, so the Ahsoka update was everything I wanted... or is it?

 Well... I like the soft-goods on this guy, and I really dig the Clone Wars armored suit, even if I prefer his usual attire. The best thing about this figure is how perfectly they nailed Haysen Christensen's older likeness. He looks exactly like he looks in the Ahsoka series, which is just incredible. But that's about all the good things I can say about this guy. Firstly, they reused the basic Anakin's double jointed legs, gumminess and everything. But that's nothing compared to what they did to his arms. His shoulders droop from way too low, which already makes him look off, but they are also extra long, in no small part due to how thick his elbows are. No matter how you pose him, you'll always feel like something is off with him. And then there's the shoulder pads, the bit of plastic that connects the butterfly joint to the pad itself is of different lengths between the right and left arm, and I looked it up and it happens with every copy of the figure, so his arms look even more uneven and wrong. This is honestly one of the ugliest Black Series figures I've seen.

 His waist is on a ball joint, he has single jointed elbows, with a nice, deep cut, and double jointed knees with swivels on his thighs. He has very generous butterfly joints that lets him hit some very neat poses... if only his arms weren't so long.

 This is what I meant about the thick elbows. They do this ugly figure no favors. He is as tall as the other Anakin figures, and slightly shorter than Bucky Cap.

 Sure, he is a remake of an older figure... but they've been doing such a great job updating older figures... why didn't this Anakin get a full upgrade instead of just a simple head update? Which, admittedly, is a fantastic new headsculpt, but still. It gets even worse because the General Kenobi figure is so darn good, so why didn't General Skywalker get something that good too? I'm only being generous with the score because I do love this head sculpt, I like the design and Anakin is my favorite character next to Cal.

3.5

Action Figure #667: Power Rangers Lightning Collection Mighty Morphin Ninja Black Ranger

 The king of dubbed anime is here.

 It's been slow, but with the Mighty Morphin Ninja Black Ranger I'm now only one Ninja ranger short of a full team.

 Well, all these Ninja figures are identical, so not much else to add to what I've already written twice. I do think the gold accents on his black costume make him look the best among them, however. Three different heads, a pair of fists, two alternate hands and an effect piece are the goodies he gets, as the rest of the figures. The likeness to Johnny Young Bosch is there, but it's not perfect.

 That said, his right leg has this huge gap at the swivel. I'm starting to see why so many people claimed that Lightning Collection had many QC issues.

 If you'll allow me a little copyin' and pastin' ....  Articulation is almost as good as the rest of the line. He has double jointed elbows and knees, swivels on his thighs, boots and biceps. He has no ab crunch, and his waist seems to be ball jointed, but you won't get much beyond spinning his torso. He has butterfly joints and drop down hips but I didn't seem able to get more than a few millimeters from his hips. He is almost as tall as Bucky Cap. 

 Having toyed around with this buck for a third time.... I'm starting to see its limitations. The sculpt is good and I love the very 90's Ninja design, but having no diaphragm articulation is so disappointing on a Ninja action figure. Yeah, he's alright.

7.0 

Action Figure #666: Power Rangers Lightning Collection Lord Drakkon (Evo III)

 666 the number of the Drakkon.

 So, there I was, browsing the net only to discover that Lord Drakkon Evo III had a figure made! He has skyrocketed up in price, because he used to be an exclusive, but I managed to find a decent deal on him... and y'know me, I can't say no to gold and black color schemes!

 Despite the black color scheme, this is Drakkon at his most heroic, after fulfilling his plan, this is how he envisioned himself in his heroic dream scenario, which is why he has a cape! This is not just a recolor of the previous figure, as every armor piece, while similar, is different to the original figure. I do like the overall look of the figure, as he looks very powerful and evil. He comes with the Saban Sword, two gripping hands, two open hands, an unmasked head sculpt, two green electricity effects, and a base with broken Mighty Morphin Helmets that can hold either Saban or one of the electricity effects. While I got the figure missing one of the open hands, it seems the seller made up for it including a Dragon Knife... which is quite convenient since my Green Ranger is missing his!

 As can be seen here, the boots and gauntlets LOOK very similar, but it isn't just the paint job, the sizes and lines inside the boots and gauntlets are actually different. The most notorious change is the shield, which is completely different. I don't think either design is better than the other. Lord Drakkon is a badass fusion of the Green and White Rangers, while this Evo III is a badass evil Ranger overlord. Both designs and figures are great.

 The one big issue with the figure is that the cape is slightly harder than I expected, which makes him very top heavy and a bit hard to balance. Thankfully you can take it off. The backside of the shield is a bit lacking in detail, and you'll have those three gaping holes behind him, but it's not too bad.

 If something can be said about this line is how consistently good the articulation is. Butterfly joints, double jointed elbows and knees, swivels on the biceps, thighs and boots, a ball jointed ab crunch and a hinged waist.

 The only issue with the articulation is that this new shield is much wider than the original's, so he can't move his arms straight up. I don't think they could've done anything to prevent this, sadly, but it does limit some of the poses he can strike. He is as tall as the original Drakkon, which the picture below fails to convey since I had to finagle with his legs and feet to get him to stand with his cape, and he is a bit shorter than Bucky Cap.

 Well, he is about as great as the original figure. In the comics, Drakkon was running on aura alone, and all his suits were incredible, so I'm just happy we got to have this version too. If Lightning Collection ever comes back, I wouldn't mind getting the other two forms Drakkon had... or even the exclusive Evo he had in the game! All that said, no, this figure isn't worth its new price. While I love the figure itself, the goodies, like the green electricity and the helmets' base isn't anything special, so buying this figure nowadays means buying an even more overpriced Drakkon figure.

8.0

Action Figure #665: Star Wars The Black Series Doctor Aphra (Coat)

 The doctor got lazy.

 So, here's the thing. I knew that Doctor Aphra was a thing, but I didn't know much about her besides her popping up in a few Star Wars comicbook anthologies I read. But then I discovered this figure, thought she looked kinda cool and decided to read a bit more about her and... I can't say I care much about her as a character, but I thought she was a great figure.

 And, at first, I thought she looked really cool, but something was a bit off. Why did her belt had a peg for what looked like a light saber? And then I looked at the art-insert of the box, and there were a few differences, and then I realized... This Aphra figure is a 75% reuse of Mara Jade! I'll give them this, the coat looks really cool and is unique to her, and so are the arms, plus, Mara Jade's sculpt is really good and it does fit Aphra... except for the belt which definitely isn't hers and doesn't match the art. She comes with a blaster pistol and a helmet you can take off.

 As far as articulation goes, she gets double jointed knees, swivels on her thighs, single jointed elbows that go over 90 degrees when bent, a ball jointed ab crunch and a hinged waist. Butterfly joints would've been nice, but she doesn't really need them, however, the coat does limit her range when lifting her arms, so they'll have to go at an angle and not straight up, which is a bit disappointing. She's about a head shorter than Bucky Cap.

 Maybe it's a bit harsh to call it lazy, because most of the reuse here is well suited for Aphra, but if they were going to go the extra mile with the jacket, they might as well have given her a unique belt all to herself. Aside from that, I think that she is a good looking figure, and Mara's sculpt is a winner, although, sadly, her jack does limit a bit of her movement. But, yeah, she's alright.

6.5