Action Figure #846: DC Universe Signature Collection Black Mask

 Wears a red hood, calls himself Red Hood. Wears a black mask, calls himself Black Mask. Makes sense!

 After Mattel recovered the DC License I swore off from buying more DC Universe figures, because as charming as they are, they were also very, very dated, from yellowed plastic to brittle legs that just broken easily. And then I found Black Mask at my local market for very cheap, and while he has gained some notoriety the past few years, I doubt he is at the top of Mattel's priority list.

 On the sculpt end of things, well, he is on the same suited buck that Mattel cast so many of their other figures, like modern Joker or The Riddler. It's not the most exciting or best proportioned buck, but it gets the job done, and more importantly, it fits the character... even if Black Mask tends to be depicted a bit more muscular-looking nowadays. It's one unique piece, his head is delicious in how scary it looks.

 For accessories, he gets a double-pronged knife he wielded once, a more classic looking knife and a solid, chunky piece of plastic depicting Batman's cowl. The two knives are very gummy, and the cowl... is unusable. No, really, Black Mask can't grab it in any way. It seems to have a slot at the back for a knife, but neither of them can fit inside. But what's worse, on the cover that mask is from... the cowl was held by a knife from the front!

 On the articulation end... Swivels on thighs, biceps and waist, single jointed elbows and knees with not much range on either, and those classic T-Hinged hips this line is known for. For as limited as he is, at least you can have him wield the two-pronged knife with both arms, much like he did in the comic book! He is slightly taller than the new DC Core Robin, but slightly shorter than Bucky Cap.

 Black Mask is OK. At this day and age, he is quite outdated, and he is even cast in a rather bland mold. But for what it's worth, the head sculpt is fantastic, and it IS a good depiction of Black Mask at the time he released. I don't regret my purchase at all.

6.0

Action Figure #845: Star Wars The Black Series Cav

 They should've named him Carv, for Carver. Since he uses knives. Disney, just hire me!

 And with the long-range specialist also comes Cav the close-range specialist! I was actually a bit more excited about this one because I found the concept behind the knife-wielding Storm Trooper nut a bit more interesting than a Sniper ST, but...

 ...they also managed to cheap out and be lazy with him. So, the good news? There's quite a bit of new stuff with him. He has a unique right shoulder pad, as well as a unique black right arm. His chest is adorned with 3 holsters for his knives, he has a unique belt, and a leg strap to carry yet another knife, plus, unlike Misty, he has his Jetpack behind him. All of this makes for a unique looking Storm Trooper, and I like that. That said... they did manage to cheap out on him too.

 Even looking at the boxart of the figures you'll be able to quickly tell that his legs are wrong. Cav has two identical looking legs, unlike the other Storm Troopers, but it seems the BS team didn't notice. Another thing, see that cool looking X carving on his helmet? It's just paint. It's disappointing considering that Thrawn's Storm Troopers had the gold cracks sculpted onto the armors. Another thing that let me down, the knives are tiny, whereas they always draw them much larger in the comic book. Who is he going to hurt with those baby knives? The knives on the leg strap also fall out too easily. But even worse, he also comes with a blaster, which he does use in the comic, but I suggest never equipping it, as it doesn't fit very well on either hand, and it will warp the grip on that hand so that the tiny knives will fall off. Cav is a melee fighter first and foremost, you want him using his knives!

 Articulation is identical to other Stormtroopers. Butterfly joints, a ball jointed ab crunch, single jointed elbows and knees with deep cuts and swivels on her thighs so that he can lift her legs. He's a touch shorter than Bucky Cap.

 I was rather excited about Cav, but I'm sorry to say that he is a bit of a lazy release. His knives should've been a bit bigger, and they could've gone the extra mile with the sculpting, just retool the helmet with the scar, and mirror the left thigh. But alas, they didn't. At least all the pouches and the black arm do make him stand out among other Storm Troopers, so that's nice.

6.5

Action Figure #844: Star Wars The Black Series Misty

 #NotAllStormtroopers are bad shots!

 Seeing how I'm getting into the 2015 comic books and I already owned Kreel, this 2-Pack was right up my alley! Since the genders of the SCAR Squadron are never disclosed but Misty is a female name, I'll be referring to Misty as a 'she'. If their gender is ever revealed I might come back and update this, but as far as I'm concerned, they are a 'she'.

 Misty is... a bit of a lazy release. For as hard working as the Black Series team is, for whatever reason they always cut corners when it comes to Comic Book figures, and this is no exception. That said, for what it's worth, she comes with her own unique rifle, which looks really cool, and a very nice soft-goods hooded poncho. The poncho's hood doesn't always like to drape over her head, but it's not too bad.

 Now, for what it's not the Black Series' team's fault, this figure is mostly a Storm Trooper reuse, but that's beyond their power. She does have a unique belt with two black pouches, though. She also has a knife, which can be take out, that can be strapped to her leg, and a strapped pouch on her other leg. The strapped pouch is garbage and it kept falling off, so I had to glue it down. Lame!

 But what I found very irksome is that she doesn't have a jetpack! Now, I don't think it was ever confirmed that she has one, but seeing how everybody else has one... You'd assume she has one too. But they probably figured nobody would ever pose her without the poncho, thus, no need for the extra piece... but, c'mon! She's already a fairly basic Storm Trooper release, was it too much to ask for a little extra piece? It didn't even need any paint!

 Articulation is identical to other Stormtroopers. Butterfly joints, a ball jointed ab crunch, single jointed elbows and knees with deep cuts and swivels on her thighs so that she can lift her legs. She's a touch shorter than Bucky Cap.

 While I can't fault the BS team for how simple the design is, I can fault them for skimping out on the jetpack. For leaving the straps hanging loose on her. I mean, it's almost a complete ST recycle, they could've sculpted a new thigh with the pouch on so that it wouldn't fall off! That said, yeah... she's OK. She's not the most exciting Stormtrooper design, but she does work better as part of a team.

6.0

Action Figure #843: Marvel Legends Muse

 Well, I've had better muses.

 Muse is one creepy bastard, he was introduced in a relatively recent, 10 years or so, Daredevil run, and he was kinda iconic in how edgy he was. Aided by a more abstract art-style, Muse was a very original, and messed up, villain that took Daredevil one step closer to horror.

 Well... they managed to capture how spooky this guy looks. The paint apps on his face and chest are all very nicely applied, so no complaints there. I love the we finally get to have a blo--I mean, red spray-painted figure. While most of his chest is reused, minus the suspenders and the back pack, what is new on this figure is very well sculpted, the hat looking like wool, the suspenders like leather, and his pants are boots are fantastic as well. The figure itself is a bit gummy, but not the worst I've seen.

 He comes with a nice assortment of hands, you get two gripping hands, two fists, a more open grabby hand(Perfect for when Blindspot comes out and you can have him menacingly trying to gouge his eyes) and an alternate gripping hand with a reverted hinge so that you can angle his stabs... with his included spray-paint can, machete and/or knife. The only thing I would've added would've been his unmasked head, which was the big BAMF moment of his original run.

 Articulation is on par with anything else from Marvel Legends. Butterfly joints, double jointed elbows and knees, swivels on his biceps and thighs, as well as one on his waist, and a hinged ab crunch. The only weird bit on him are his suspenders, as they are a separate piece that connects on a disc on his waist, so you could say his torso is made up three parts: Chest, Belt-disc and Pelvis. So when posing him, you have to mind the waist disc unless you want to break the suspenders, which I'm guessing you don't. He is a hair shorter than Bucky Cap.

 Muse is a spiffy figure, one of the grimiest Daredevil villains I never thought we'd get a figure of and the Hasbro team pulled it off really well. I also love the bloody accessories, about time we got some of those!

8.5

Action Figure #842: Marvel Legends Bullseye (Muse 2-Pack)

 Nothing he can't hit... with red paint.

 I didn't think I needed another Bullseye and I sure as hell never expected with get Marvel Legends painted with red bl--paint, just look at the spray can!, but here we are so might as well take a stab(heh) at it!

 I can't say I'm familiar with this look, in fact, this is the first time I've seen Bullseye wearing this but... he looks kinda cool, doesn't he? At least as long as he has his mouth covered! Aside from that, this is a very tactical and not very capey look for the character, so I'm sure he can be snuck into other displays. I do like the overall look, however, although I don't know if I like it for Bullseye specifically. The only issue I have with the sculpt is that the forearms just end on a diagonal cut before the wrists start, which looks odd.

 He comes with an alternate head that seems to have inhaled red bl--paint, two grabby hands, two fists, a hand holding Kunai and a trigger finger hand. He also comes with a Rifle, a pistol, a tomahawk, a knife and... I'm pretty sure the bat is supposed to be his since he is wielding it on the box.

 The alternate head-sculpt is identical to the previous Bullseye single-release, but covered in red paint. The tone of the suit is almost identical, so you could probably swap both heads.

 Articulation is pretty good, butterfly joints, double jointed elbows and knees, swivels on his biceps, thighs, waist and boots as well as a hinged ab-crunch... making it practically identical to the previous Bullseye, but without a belt-leg-strap-thing getting in the way. Surprisingly, he seems to be a smidge taller than classic Bullseye... but a smidge shorter than Bucky Cap.

 So... The previous figure will remain my main Bullseye, what can I say, I bought this two-pack for the other guy(Spoilers!), but I don't think this is a bad figure at all. I kinda like the overall design, even if I don't think it's very Bullseye of him.

8.0

Action Figure #841: Mattel DC Premier Robin Cycle

 Mattel is definitely not going through the cycles!

 Mattel has finally gotten the DC license back, and they just started shipping out their kid's line and... they went all out with it, so I've nothing but the highest of hopes for their collector's line! Robin Cycle is the first one I managed to get my hands on, so let's get on with it!

 Well, the Cycle is a bit weird because the driver ends up so close to ground level, but it's not a bad looking toy. While it's not very heavy, it feels relatively sturdy, and I love the gatling gun at the front. Since this IS a toy, it has a play feature: It shoots as you drive it around. Not too shabby.

 And by the by, the average Marvel Legend, with no cape or backpack, can ride it just fine.

 And now, the reason I bought this figure, this exclusive Robin! You can tell that this is the kid's line because this is a generic-looking Robin, that head and face could be Dick, Jason or Tim, so he can fit any display. I thought the black and red color scheme was perfect for a Tim, to pair him up with the basic Robin once I get him. The costume has sculpted texture and details, which is pretty surprising for the kid's line! The paint apps on the head are perfect, the ones one the body are good, but they could've used another coating. The cape is made out of soft goods, and it feels fairly durable. Overall, a really good looking figure. He comes with no accessories, although his belt seems to have slots for them.

 Considering this is the kid's line, the articulation is very impressive. Ball-jointed shoulders, with single jointed elbows that reach slightly over 90 degrees and can turn. Wrists are hinged, and connect to the forearms with a swivel, which was unexpected but very welcome. Legs have double jointed knees, with swivels on the ankles and thighs, although, sadly, the ankles have no articulation whatsoever. While there's no ab-crunch, there's a waist swivel. So while it's not the most articulated figure ever, it's REALLY impressive for the low cost and, well, the target audience. He is almost as tall as Bucky Cap, but shorter than Mattel's Multiverse Tim.

 I'm positively surprised with this figure, I'm definitely going to get my hands on as many as these as possible... at least until Mattel's Collector's line comes out. Hopefully, they are as fantastic as these ones.

9.0

Action Figure #840: Blokees Iron Man Mark LXXXV

 Plastic Man? Blocky Man?

 Well, Iron Man Mark LXXXV is now the largest Blokees we've built yet at 140 pieces, and, boy, I've been wanting to build a larger one for sure. It was... well, it was a bit of a mixed bag.

 For starters, there's a small issue with the instructions, as eventually they make reference to a blister 'I'... but there isn't one! They meant 'D', which they reference correctly most other times. And tied to this, there's a K7 piece that serves no purpose, as it's only use is if you bought the 'DX' version of this kit.

 But to add insult to injury, there are not enough hand armor pieces for every hand piece which... is rather lame. 

 And this is the figure finally built, and I gotta say... I love the end result. Much like Wolvie and Deadpool, he features a fairly stylized design which I believe looks really good on him, giving him a very heroic frame, thick in all the right places. The color choices are all exceptional.

 So, accessories: A pair of fists, a pair of open palms and a pair of blasting hands that can be equipped with a pair of great looking, translucent orange blast effects. He also comes with an alternate back piece that has six tendrils coming out of it, as well as an energy blade-wielding right hand and an alternate left arm with a cannon. The problems: First, the blade holding hand is its own piece, so if you want to take off the blade then the hand has to come out as well. This is also an issue with the back and the arm cannon, because you have to take a piece out of his back, which was a bit hard to do, but even worse, you have to disassemble the left arm to put the arm cannon. I was afraid I was going to break something when disassembling it, which means it was a poor idea and a bad implementation.

 He comes with a light-up feature. The instructions claim it's triggered by shaking the figure but.... in my experience it turns on and off whenever it darn pleases.

 Articulation is as exhaustive as always, with a double ball jointed neck, a ball jointed ab crunch, a ball jointed waist, alongside double jointed elbows and knees, drop-down hips, and swivels on the biceps and thighs, but let's not forget about the toe-joints and the articulated shoulder pads! On a final note, while it's not the exact same model of Iron Man, look how much better the proportions and colors in this figure are to the Marvel Legends version!

 While I think the figure itself looks incredible and is fun to play with, having to disassemble parts to equip others does put a few chinks in this guy's armor, and not having enough hand guards for each hand is rather cheap.

6.5

Action Figure #839: STORM Arena Street Fighter Alpha Nash (Charlie)

 Street Fighter can never stop having naming issues, huh?

 As far as confusion goes, Nash or Charlie if you aren't Japanese, might be another one. Capcom USA felt Nash wouldn't work overseas so he was renamed Charlie... which then confused people like me who were young when they watched the Street Fighter movie and tied him as Carlos Blanka, Guile's buddy. It wasn't easy being a 90's kid!

 STORM keeps pumping out this figures... and boy, am I happy for it! Nash is their latest release, and it just might be their best. First, the sculpt is incredible, they managed to capture Nash's likeness to a teem and he is a really cool looking figure. I mean, he's always been the cooler Guile, but I don't think I've ever appreciated him as much as I do now after seeing him in plastic! The way his bulky clothes look, the sculpting of his muscles... everything is just perfect. The only thing I found curious is that his jacket kinda smells like chemicals.

 He comes with two headsculpts, one with a neutral expression and another one that is grunting, two fists, two open hands, to eyeglass-holding hands, two hands pointing with three fingers(for his winning pose!), the glasses themselves(Becareful, they are tiny!) as well as the stand all these figures come with. But it doesn't stop there, they included alternate skin-colored butterfly joints. Charlie never takes off his jacket, but just in case you wanted to, YOU CAN! It wasn't needed, they just included it because they could. Amazing. And then, he includes a phenomenal Somersault Shell effect! It looks incredible, and you can even balance him on one leg with it!

 Same great articulation as we've learned to expect from Storm. Double jointed elbows and knees, swivels on his biceps, thighs and ankles, butterfly joints, a ball jointed ab crunch and a ball jointed waist, alongside drop down hips I'm not scared of ever breaking. All his joints have been silky smooth, and he holds poses really well, as I mentioned already, he can even be balanced with the effect piece on one leg! He is about as tall as Bucky Cap, and scales nicely with JADA's Guile.

 I mean... this just might be STORM's best release yet. The sculpt looks absolutely perfect, the articulation is top of the line, the figure feels sturdy, the accessories are all glorious... Slowly, but surely, I think I'm starting to love this Storm line.

10

Action Figure #838: Marvel Legends Lizard (BAF Rerelease)

 I wonder if he is related to Godzilla...

 The Lizard has been the last classic Spider-Man villain I've been missing, and he's always been hard to find, be it the animated/Ditko slim-lookin' Lizard or this more modern, albeit clad in his classic colors, looking one. Well, in baddies I prefer size and bulk, so I went for this one. Funnily enough, when Amazon charged me for the pre-order, I had no more money on my debit card, and I decided to wait until I got paid instead of using credit... bad idea, it got pushed back to July. And I got scared that it might get cancelled, so I ended up paying double for it on Ebay. At least I made sure to get him before the price went ever higher, oof! 

 Sculpt-wise, this figure is fantastic. From the sculpted scales, all the torn clothes around him that feature sculpted, scaly musculature below to the bestial frame he's got. It's a fantastic looking Lizard, no way around it. Of not is that the edges of his lab coat are all muddy, which looks really nice... even if said weathering doesn't extend to his pants or feet. Now, then, this is actually an updated re-release, and they've changed a few things. Firstly, the original figure had a more natural looking paintjob, while this one has a flatter, 60's-90's Comic Book accurate coloring. It's really just a matter of taste, I think I prefer the more natural looking colors of the original release, but this figure will look right at home with other Comic Book figures. The weathering in the original was much better done too. The other difference is the head, or rather, the tongue. The original figure had a much longer, thinner tongue.

 His only accessory is an alternate head sculpt mirroring McFarlane's chunkier head design. I, for one, prefer the more angular, modern lizard head.

 Articulation is acceptable considering it is an older figure. His neck is on a double balljoint, which allows you angle his head around, elbows are double jointed, he has waist, bicep and thigh swivels for all your turning needs, and a hinged ab crunch with a nice amount of range forward. His tail connects to the torso via a ball joint, and the tail itself has two joints, so while it allows you to pose it around, it will look a bit rigid.

 The legs are the worst part. Pictured above is one leg bent and one fully straightened. Yes, the difference is minimal, which is kind of disappointing, as they could have updated his knees. His feet have toe-joints at least! Being originally a BAF... his right leg kept popping off, I had to thicken the peg with super glue. His left arm too would pop off until I worked it out a bit.

 His jaw can be fully opened or closed, and you can even lift his tongue! He is a bit taller than Bucky Cap.

 The Lizard is fine. The sculpt itself is really impressive, making for a nice, beefy villain to have fighting Spider-Man, and I much prefer the modern Lizard look. Articulation could've been better, but what you get is quite serviceable. So... yeah, while there was room for improvement, I'm happy with the figure.

7.5

Action Figure #837: Marvel Legends Quicksilver (Avengers 2-Pack)

 He is wearing pixie boots!

 Had I known that this Quicksilver was releasing this year I certainly would've skipped the classic green Quicksilver nobody likes. Ah, well! At least now I own a proper blue-colored Pietro. And, by the by, he is STILL Magneto's son, no matter what Marvel says.

 While I'm most familiar with his classic skyblue costume, I know for a fact that I've read one or two comics with Pietro wearing this outfit, and to be honest, I quite like it, maybe even more than the classic! It looks great in plastic too, the paint apps are all perfectly in place. Another thing worth mentioning... while they botched Natasha's head, we've finally got a well-proportioned Pietro head! No, really, both previous Quicksilver releases had huge heads on their shoulders, but this one is perfect.

 He comes with two fists, two grabby hands and an alternate screaming head. No open palm running hands this time either! I was going to use the screaming head on my other Pietro... but the open mouth is too exaggerated, its use when posing is fairly limiting.

 This is a somewhat retooled Sunfire buck, so you know the deal. Hinged ab crunch, waist, bicep, thigh and boot swivels, double jointed elbows and knees, as well as butterfly joints. You can pretty much do anything fun you'd like to do with him... being mindful that he IS a bit gummy, sadly, although not as bad as some other Legends. He is about as tall as Bucky Cap.

 Finally a good Quicksilver. While not the most classic looking costume it's still a nice looking one, and they've finally fixed the proportions on his head, as both previous figures never looked quite right with that gigantic noggin'.

8.0

Action Figure #836: Marvel Legends Black Widow (Avengers 2-Pack)

 Maybe the theme was villains turned heroes?

 I wasn't really in the market for another Black Widow since she isn't really a character I care a lot about, and I never even new that she ever wore this costume... but, hey, mine was quite outdated, so this isn't completely unwelcome!

 Well, this is a simple look. She's using the new female torso, which looks great on her. As much as I like the black, red and yellow color scheme.... I don't know,  I don't find anything about this costume eye-catching. No wonder she never wore it again! The wristbands are sculpted onto the arms, and they look quite nice. Sadly, the leg strap hangs loose on her leg, so it could fall at any moment.

 She comes with two headsculpts, and both look really nice... except for how over-sized they are. I compared the size with Ms. Marvel, who also uses the new buck, and sure enough, she has less chin AND forehead than Black Widow. She also comes with those lame female open hands they love to use, as well as two fists. It would've been nice to get some effects for the wristbands instead of the open hands...

 Since she uses the new female buck, articulation is excellent. Double jointed elbows and knees, swivels on her biceps and thighs, butterfly joints, a ball jointed ab crunch and a hinged waist lets her hit all the lithe poses you'd want her in.

 The arms are a bit gummy, as sadly we've come to expect from cheap Hasbro. Also pictured her large head, man, it's almost as large as her chest! She is a hair shorter than Bucky Cap.

 I don't hate the figure, but I don't care for it. There's nothing interesting about her or her design, and I really hate how large her head looks on this body. Some effects for her wristbands would've been a quite welcome.

5.5