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!

Austin Powers - Space Base Playset

Austin Powers

McFarlane Toys - Mezco

also featuring the 

Space Base Playset

ReadySetz

Yeah baby!  Austin Powers, International Man of Mystery is back in full force on my toy shelf!  I had the key players (Austin and Dr. Evil) from McFarlane Toys when they came out close to twenty years ago, but a lull in current toy releases, revisiting the movies, and a trip to Ebay helped me get my mojo back. Short of a couple of Mezco variants (Sumo Fat Bastard Man and Prison Dr. Evil with Mini-Me), I picked up a well-rounded line-up for next to nothing.

The McFarlane figures that came out with "The Spy Who Shagged Me" were par for the company at the time:  little more than statues with a fair amount of accessories that they may or may not be able to hold.  They did produce some of the most realistic sculpts (again, at the time), but they were pretty fragile figures (Vanessa's hand decided it was time to snap off just for this photo shoot) and don't hold up to today's standards.  They each came with a rather large sound feature stand that took three little batteries just to say one quote.  Some of the "mint on card" pick-ups I got lacked the sound feature, but came with some corroded batteries!  Yay!  Let that be a lesson to you: they are TOYS.  Take the TOYS out of the box and play and display!

Mezco produced a wave for "Goldmember."  These are a little bit cartoony or exaggerated in the sculpts (like my Goonies figures), but have far more articulation than the McFarlane figures.  I saw somewhere that they had a Foxxy Cleopatra prototype that didn't make it to production, which is a shame.  Especially since someone wasted plastic on Heather Graham, who I am convinced is only a good actress at playing parts where she is supposed to be a bad actress (See "Bowfinger").

As a fan of these movies, (and the 007 franchise they spoof lovingly) I wish there were more bad guys in the line-up:  Frau Farbissna, Number Two, Mustafa, Random Task, Paddy O'Brien, etc.  And could Michael Caine really want that much money for his likeness, or did they not think anyone would want a Nigel Powers figure?  Has there ever been a Michael Caine figure in any toy line?  Hmmm...something to look into.

Complete or not, I had a great time displaying these figures on the new Space Base playset from ReadySetz.  As you may have seen in previous reviews, I also have their Urban Playset.  These are huge, fun, foldable playsets that are great for toy displays/photography and, of course, play.  Highly recommended for both collectors and kids!  Austin Powers won the toss for first use, which was a hard call for a lot of other lines I collect.  Doctor Who, Alien, cosmic-themed Marvel Legends (Fantastic Four, Guardians of the Galaxy, etc), and the X-Men (cosmic adventures in the Claremont era, Asteroid M) are all in line to get some time in on this baby.

My mini-Austin Powers shopping spree didn't end with the figures.  I picked up a "Big Boy" bank, a guide to all the movies, a Johnny Lightning Shaguar die-cast car, and this odd Upper Deck costume piece card, which claims to have a tiny piece of Austin's blue, crushed velvet pants from the first movie embedded in it.  Fab!

South Park/Urban Playset

South Park Fractured But Whole

3-inch mystery minis, Kidrobot

The Urban Playset

3.75" convention specialty set

Readysetz.com

 

The Urban Playset is big, pop-up, cardboard diorama for action figures between 4-6 inches available only online from ReadySetz.com for a limited time.  This is not that set.  This is a shrunk down version more appropriate for 3.75" figures that was sold at a Las Vegas toy show (hence some of the new Vegas décor) and available after the show in limited quantities via customer service email.  The set is sturdy and durable feeling and the cardboard has a plastic-like hardness to it.  It really is top-notch printing.  There is not a single piece of this set that does not feature printed detail.  There are some extra pieces to assemble, like some ramps and scaffolding, but you really can just pop-up and play.  And when you're done, it folds neatly back into its box for storage.

I got the scaled down set to go with some of the smaller figures in my collection, like minimates (Ghostbusters in specific.). I would be great for a Marvel Universe or GI Joe 3.75" figures.  To show off some of the detail/features of the diorama I decided to display some of Kidrobot's 3" South Park Fractured But Whole figures, as I had not reviewed them yet. 

These figures had been released a year ago with the coinciding video game's original release date.  It was delayed some time, but when it did get released, Best Buy got a whole new shipment of them.  Ugh, blind box figures again?  Yes, but I was lucky enough to hit a full box and didn't end up with any duplicates in the 8 or so I picked up.  I ended up with a few of the more rare ones and picked up some of the others on eBay.  Best Buy had them cheaper that anywhere else: $8 instead of $10.  Even so, $8 is a lot for a tiny figure with 3 points of articulation... but I couldn't live without Coon and Friends, especially after playing the game!  I'm only missing one figure in the set, the Mosquito, but plan on eBaying him someday.

 Best Buy also had an exclusive, glow in the dark Awesom-O figure I couldn't pass up.  While not a part of South Park's superhero parody, I could see him filling a spot in the line-up like Marvel's Vision or DC's Red Tornado. 

Seeing reviews and having the smaller model makes me regret not pulling the trigger on the bigger Urban Playset when I had the chance.  So much play potential as a Gotham City wannabe!  I hope it comes around again someday.  Oh well, ReadySetz is getting ready to roll out a space playset soon that I hope looks just as nice.  Maybe it will look good with Transformers?  Doctor Who?  Superheroes?  I am eager to see what they come up with.