Captain Marvel

Captain Marvel

Marvel Legends - Hasbro

Don't care for the character.  My feelings about Carol Danvers aligns closely with this article.  Didn't see the movie, and Endgame used her about as well as I thought the would: ham-fisted and unnecessary.  They should have saved her introduction for MCU phase IV.  Anyway, the less energy spent on her the better, because her Marvel Legends themed wave did produce a few decent figures worth discussing.  And before you get too riled up and label me a card-carrying member of the He-man Woman Haters, I DO have a comic-based Carol in my collection...she was hard to pass up on clearance for $9 at Walmart.

Despite the handling of the characters (Skrulls are misunderstood "good guys?"), Talos and Yon-Rogg look great and have army building potential.  More Kree and Skrull, please!  Rogg's helmeted head is pretty generic, so they don't necessarily scream "clones" at first glance if you have a batch of them, and you can mod Talos' soft plastic jacket with some heat and an exacto knife to add some variety to your Skrull multiples.  I'm not sure why Rogg has a gun but no holster (or even needs a gun for that matter, since he has some sort of built-in wrist weapons), and why the Skrulls get bupkis.  Even if you wanted to give them guns, the don't include extra hands to be able to hold anything.  Oh well, at least you should be able to interchange their heads on other figures to simulate their shape-shifting ability.

Crazy hero-turned-villain Genis-Vell looks great with the rest of the Star Force gang in this lineup.  Like Mar-Vell (where the hell is his re-do in this wave?!) in the Toy Biz Modok wave, I missed out on his Legends debut figure.  His head sits a bit high on the peg imo, and his gun is a straight-up repaint from one of Hasbro's earlier attempts at a Kree soldier.

Grey Gargoyle is a puzzling space filler where theme is concerned.  I think he would have been better off in a future Thor or Iron Man wave, but either of those could be a long time coming.  The sculpt is good, but the "concrete" look of the plastic can look a little "cosmic" translucent around the edges and thinner pieces.

I sold the Carol figure just to have the BAF part, but I kept the Young Fury.  I figure I can always use suit bodies for generic goons and other customs.  Plus, his inside jacket holster is neat!  I also kept the Chewie Goose the cat figures from both.  I had to buy two Carol figures to get what I wanted this time around:  I also picked up the Target exclusive Star Force Marvel who had interchangeable parts to make Minerva.  More Kree helped me to bite the bullet.  Miverva is great and has some extra accessories like her scarf, ammo belt, and hardware. 

I'm late in reviewing this MCU 10th Anniversary Ronin the Accuser figure, but since this is a Kree fest...

The BAF (along with Skrull multiples) was the drive to complete this wave for me.  The Kree Sentry is full-on Jack Kirby here!  Dig the lines and angles...hail to the King!  Lots of fans online have been complaining about his blockiness, inconsistent appearance compared to the comics, and range of motion.  Get over it.  He looks great and moves as a big, lumbering robot should.

Since this wave does come up a bit short, I thought I would showcase the ones I did pick up with the parallel universe equivalent of Star Force:  the Green Lantern Corps.  The ReadySetz Space Base playset was born to make cosmic adventures in either word a reality!

Shazam Part II

Shazam Part II

DC Multiverse and True Movies Figures

Mattel

The one true Captain Marvel is here!  So many haters have been silenced by excellent reviews and box office receipts...Shazam!  The DC Cinematic Universe is finally finding it’s footing, no thanks to Sad-Sack Snyder.  Anyhoo, we’ve got some more movie figures to look at from Mattel, and they are surprisingly great as well!

The six-inch DC Multiverse Shazam figures are some of the best figures Mattel has done to date.  The sculpting, head scans, and articulation rivals that of Marvel Legends.  Like the Aquaman movie line, the actor likenesses are spot on.  

Shazam’s colors pop, and little details like the suit texture, sharp lines, and tiger buttons all stand out. You get some extra hands for accessories, but that’s it.  I would have liked to have seen some lightning effects included and a pissed off alternate head...or maybe a bubble-gum bubble like the promo images.  You can get him in a lot of great poses.  If there was one gripe here,  it’s that the torso might appear a bit long.  Forgiven...they have double-jointed elbows!

Dr. Sivana might just be a “guy in a suit” figure, but its a totally new suit and articulation scheme than we’re used to from Mattel.  Used to be that they would cheap out on something like this if they couldnt figure out a way to reuse a buck about ten times over.  And the suit doesn’t hinder articulation...he still has an ab crunch!  He even bests the Big Red Cheese in the accessory department.  He has alternate hands, a magic 8 ball ("Outlook not so good!"), and a second head!  One with his sunglasses, the other sans glasses to show his New 52 thunderbolt scar.

As a bonus with Sivana, you can modify your basic Pedro figure to fit his head and...Shazam!  A superpowered Doc from an old comic one-shot!

The Multiverse figures look to be Walmart Exclusives for now, but I have seen them on Amazon with a summer listing.  Sivana is short packed...maybe one to every 5 Shazams by my count, so he could be a tough one to track down if you hesitate on him.  It’s strange that these figures are only a 2 character wave with no build-a-figure.  I bet Mattel will regret that as they did in short-selling Aquaman.

I also picked up their 12-inch True Moved counterparts.  As I have said before, I love these big, cheap collector and kid friendly dolls!  They have 11 points of articulation and decent sculpts for ten bucks.  They sure beat Hasbro’s attempts in this scale!  Again, Sivana looks to be short-packed.  I spotted this lone one at Target after striking out at multiple Walmarts.  Backtracking to the basics line, Target seems to be the only place to score those.  Get em while you can!  The movie is going to rock, and with Mattel checking out, this may be your only shot at them!

Shazam!

Shazam!

Basic Movie Figures - Mattel

I wanted to title this "The One-and-Only Captain Marvel", but I gotta get as many hits as I can with the correct search functions.  I am really looking forward to the Real Captain Marvel movie.  Continuing the righting of the ship started by Aquaman, it looks bright, funny, and fun.  And not that Marvel brand of "we're so ashamed of the goofiness of the property so here's another wink at the camera joke" kind of funny.  The kind that fully embraces the downright weirdness of true superhero escapism.  Sure, I would prefer that Dr. Sivana was more silver-age mad scientist, but you get what I mean.  Mark Strong deserves another chance to be in a decent superhero property!  Anyway...new movie means new toys! 

This is the $10 basic figure lineup (slightly smaller 6-in figures with less articulation than the more expensive Multiverse figures.)  Like the Justice League, Aquaman, and Batman Missions basics, they get the job done handsomely for that price point and help fill gaps you might have in your greater DC comics roster.  Here we have the whole on-screen Marvel family and...holy Toledo...villain mini-figure pack-ins?!  How awesomely "Real Ghostbusters," Mattel!  

First, a look at the fam.  Captain Marvel, Freddy, and Pedro all appear to share the same body sculpt with color being the difference. That's not exactly a problem.  The suits all have the textured look to them with the appropriate capes and all, but shouldn't Marvel be the bulkiest and tallest of the team?  I haven't seen if this is actor-appropriate proportions yet, but I feel that Eugene is waay too big.  He's got at least a foot on the Big Red Cheese.  Size aside, the headsculpts look good for basic figures.

Mary and Darla are pretty unique sculpts.  Aside from a shared torso, I think everything else is different.  Mary has sculpted sleeves and no upper leg coverings, and Darla has some unique boots going on with a half-skirt.  

I already have comic versions of Freddy, Mary, and Marvel, so Pedro, Eugene, and Darla were the biggest draws for me.  Since I have high hopes for the movie, I wasn't going to pass the others by.  Plus, how could I stand not having the rest of the Deadly Sins?!  Sure, they're undersized, but a hero and a villain in one pack is better than most.  The only real gripe I have is that I would have preferred that they were solid PVC figures instead of a stretchy-rubbery material ("flinger" action gimmick), as I have concerns of how well they will keep over time.  Oh...and where is the Seventh Deadly Sin?  Lust?  C'mon, Mattel...what a cliffhanger!

I picked up my set from Amazon on the March 1 release date.  Highly recommended if you like this DC property (comics and/or film universe).  There are more articulated (and expensive) versions of Marvel and Sivana out now, but I am waiting to see the movie first and decide later if its worth the money.  Besides, just look at the perfection of comic Thad Bodog...he's even got Mr. Mind!  Hard to top, DCCU...hard to top.