Action Figure #545: Star Wars The Black Series Aayla Secura

 Considering her fate... she wasn't very Secur-a.

 Few things are as cool as the prequel Jedi, and now it's time to cover Aayla Secura. Probably one of the most iconic things about her was her surprisingly violent end!

 Aayla looks as if she came right out of the movie. Her clothes are a bit simpler than other Jedi, but I dig the asymmetry. Her only accessory is her lightsaber... but I feel as if the hilt is too thick for her tiny hands, so getting it inside is a bit of a hassle.

 Articulation is the standard fare. Single jointed elbows, but double jointed knees. She has no arm swivels, but has swivels on her thighs and her boots. The skirt piece is made out of soft plastic, so it doesn't get in the way of her legs. She has no waist articulation, but a ball joint on her ab crunch. Her tendrils do limit her neck movement a bit. She is a bit shorter than Bucky Cap.

 Aayla is a fun little figure, they probably got the most they could've gotten out of her design.

7.0

Action Figure #544: DC Direct Batman Rogues Gallery The Penguin

 I thought penguins were supposed to be cute...

 I wasn't very satisfied with my DCUC's Penguin, so when I first learned about this guy I just knew that I had to make room for him in my collection.

 This Penguin looks mean and nasty and I love him. From his muscular but stocky build, to the hideous face sculpt or his bony claw-like hands... The sculpt on this guy is absolutely gorgeous. He has a real, small, metallic chain holding his monocle, which is just perfect. He comes with his top hat, which is hard to get a firm hold on his head, as well as a collapsed umbrella. 

 But this amazing figure comes at a cost: Barely no articulation. His arms move up and down, but he can't move them to the sides. His elbows are single jointed, and he has swivels on his wrists and neck.... and that's all folks! No waist swivel, and above all, no leg articulation whatsoever. His head barely reaches over Bucky Cap's waist.

 I'm usually hard on figures with no articulation.... but in this case? The sculpt is so incredible that I just can't help but adore the guy.

8.0

Action Figure #543: Star Wars The Black Series Darth Malgus

 Bigger is not always better... except when it comes to lightsabers!

 I know very little about Darth Malgus except for the fact that he is one big guy, and thus, would look amazing next to my other Siths.

 The sculpt is impressive, to say the least. His body armor is filled with detail, and the burn scars on the side of his head came out really neat. He has a soft-goods cowl that fits really nicely over his head or behind it. My one issue is that his legs might be a tad too long. He also has a breathing mask that can be removed. His lone accessory is his unnecessarily long lightsaber! 

 He follows the Black Series' articulation standards: Single jointed elbows and knees, but no swivels. He has butterfly joints, and both his ab crunch and his waist rely on ball joints, although he can't bend forward too much.

 This is what I meant about his legs. They are but a touch too long. He is quite a bit taller than Bucky Cap as well as the typically taller Black Series' figures.

 I like Darth Malgus, and he is pretty good, but I think better proportions could've pushed him int beng a must have baddie.

7.5

Action Figure #542: Dungeons & Dragons Golden Archive Xanathar

 You've met Lil Xan, enter the Big Xan.

 Well, this year I've been wanting to add more monsters to my collection, so what better to start with than a Beholder? I don't know what Beholder Xanathar is supposed to be, but he looks badass.

 Xanathar is a very heavy figure, and I love the fact that he has so much weight to him. He comes with ten tendrils, which are matched to specific holes on his back, but they can fit anywhere in case you want to be creative. This are made out of solid plastic, but they port onto nubs, so you can rotate them a bit. The sculpt on this guy is fantastic, his skin is very scaly, and every tendril is different, some having some jewelry on them too. I like how the plastic inside his mouth is noticeably glossier, making it look moist in comparison to the rest of the piece. He comes with a base, sculpted to look as a pile of coins, as well as a.... a fish in a fishbow? I don't know.

 Well, there's not much you can do in terms of articulation besides making the tentacles bendy or adding joints to them... Hasbro did neither, instead, they can simply rotate around their nubs. Honestly? I don't mind it, the eye tendrils were sculpted to look pretty cool. You can open and close his mouth, which is really cool.

 There's a little lever at the top of his mouth that lets you move his pupil upwards and to either side. Unnecessary, but not unwelcome. He is a bit shorter than Bucky Cap, but as a whole, he is a much bigger and heavier piece of plastic.

 I absolutely adore how this guy turned out. His tendrils could've been articulated, but I don't mind too much considering how incredible the rest of the figure looks.

10

Action Figure #541: Figma #363 Joker(Persona 5)

 Stealing hearts... plastic hearts

 I didn't write about Persona 5... and that's because the game screwed me over and sent me back and I lost hours upon hours of progress. That said, I liked what I played, and I liked Joker and how he looked... so here we are!

 As per usual with Figma, the sculpt is gorgeous. Joker is a slim and sleek figure, very small and short, but as detailed as the design allowed. They knocked the likeness out of the park, and there's a certain elegance to the design. He comes with an alternate hair piece, that has his domino mask, three different face plates, 4 pair of hands, his knife, his gun, the mandatory Figma stand and.... Morgana! Morgana has an articulated head and needs his own small stand to, well, be able to stand.

 His articulation is good, for the most part. His elbows and knees are made up of a single joint. He has no swivels, but you can rotate the arm at the elbow, if needed, albeit not his legs. Since Figma uses ball joints, his shoulder can also rotate... but it's not as good as a swivel. He has a ball joint at the waist and a hidden ball joint for his ab crunch, and it has excellent range. The coattails of his jacket is divided into three parts that have a ball-joint each, allowing you to articulate them. The real big issue is that he has no butterfly joints, so you can't get decent cross-armed poses with his arms stretched outwards, heck, he can't hold his arms straight forward, since his arms move diagonally, kinda lame! His head is on a ball joint, but he doesn't have much range to look up. 

 I found the way they had the ball-joints for his coattails rather ingenious!

 His booties are a bit weird, so getting him to stand on a neutral stand can be a bit of a hassle. He is quite a bit shorter than Bucky Cap... and quite smaller, in proportions, to other Figmas! 

 Joker is fine, for the most part, but the articulation could've been a bit better. But really, that's it. He is a perfectly fine figure, but nothing special.

7.0

Action Figure #540: S. H. Figuarts Momo Ayase

 Close encounters of the plastic kind

 Well... I started reading Dandadan when it first released and thought it was fanservice garbage. For whatever reason, a year later or so I gave it another chance... and I was instantly hooked. Most of the fanservice is gone, and now we have emotional character driven moments next to all sorts of creative monsters that look as if they came straight outta Gantz, albeit kid friendly. The moment I saw Momo Ayase and Okarun announced.... I knew I was going to get them.

 Well... on a surface level, she looks nice. Her head looks a bit rounder than I expected, so maybe she is based on her anime looks? I don't watch anime, so I don't know, but she's not as close to the manga as I expected. I also feel like her arms are over engineered. All the lines that break the sculpt in weird places makes her look like a toy. She has six pairs of hands and five face plates, which is pretty cool.... But not a single effect piece? Without her ESP powers she just looks like a normal school girl.

 Articulation is really when the figure suffers the most. She has single jointed elbows and knees, but with really deep bends on both. No thigh swivels, but she dies have swivels on her biceps. her shoulders connect to the torso via ball pegs, giving her plenty of range on her arms. The ab crunch and her waist are on ball joints... but her chest piece can barely rotate a few inches, if you want to twist her torso, it has to be through the waist joint.

 But ultimately, her ab crunch is pathetic, and this is as far as her legs go due to the skirt. She is a bit shorter than Bucky Cap. 

 This release is just... lacking. The articulation is limited, no effects and a underwhelming sculpt. Yeah... I'd skip this one.

4.0 

Action Figure #539: S. H. Figuarts Sabo

 No Haki needed to handle it.

 Eneru used to be my favorite One Piece character... until Sabo came along. He looked SO cool and then he gained fire powers.... making him even better. Figuarts' One Piece line has been... underwhelming, to say the least, so I was a bit scared of getting this figure... 

 Well, the sculpt is beautiful. While I thought I preferred his original black costume... After playing and posing this Sabo a bit, I think I might like this white vested look better! They nailed his look, and I love the bright, vibrant color of his plastic. His coat is, much like other figures in the line, solid plastic, but while he doesn't include a stand... I was able to balance him pretty well and getting him on some cool poses with the coat on. He comes with an alternate head, for the top-hat, four alternate pair of hands, four face plates and a DLC faceplate for base Luffy. He also comes with his pipe... but sadly, no fire effects.

 His articulation is fantastic. His elbows and knees look double jointed, but they are single jointed. The way they work gives him great range on both pairs of limbs anyways. He has swivels on his thighs and biceps, and his boots can swivel 180 degrees. His ab crunch and waist lie on ball joints with very generous range on each. While he has no butterfly joints, his shoulders connect to his torso via ball pegs, giving him plenty of movement. Both of his arms kept coming off, but I coated them in super glue and now they stay firmly in place as I move them. Lastly, the coat can be removed, and both sleeves are articulated for more dynamic poses. He is almost as tall as Bucky Cap.

 I think this Sabo figure is as close to perfect as it gets. I love him, and has been so much fun to play with! For as many bad Zoro and Luffy figures as Figuarts is releasing... they are also coming out with bangers such as Kidd and Sabo!

10