Detective Pikachu

Detective Pikachu

Wicked Cool Toys figurines

Pikachu is the only one with enough power to stop Thanos.  Seriously...I have been looking forward to this movie so, so much.  More than a guy my age probably should?  Some would say I was a little too old when Pokemon debuted in 1998, but man, was that original game addictive!  I was introduced to it by a friend who was introduced to it by his little brother.  Like most people who only saw the cartoon, I too was like "Pokemon?  Pfft...isn't that for kids?"  (This was on a summer vacation road trip, and we had both brought along our Gameboys for the ride.)  He insisted I try his Pokemon Red cart...and an hour later, we where making a pit stop (at K-Mart, RIP) so I could pick up Pokemon Blue.  Hooked!  And I didn't just get the opposite cart so we could link up and trade Pokemon, I am and forever will be a Blastoise fan.

  

With this movie, and new kids meal toys at Burger King, it feels like 98-99 all over again! And Wicked Cool Toys has some new Detective Pikachu figures to boot!  I like that these scale well with my World of Nintendo figures, expanding the Super Smash Bros. universe.  They are well sculpted,  featuring the movie's real-world take with fur and feathers and such.  

Pikachu and Psyduck came packed together.  No articulation here, as both are pretty small (under 2 inches.)  The are molded and painted well...pretty hard to screw up with all that yellow, but the other details are fine.  

Mr. Mime is larger, single-packed, and has some limited articulation.  The arms and legs swivel, so you can have him acting like he's touching this side of the invisible box or that side of the invisible box.  Not all that exciting, but it is articulation given that they could have just flat left out.

In picking these up at Target, I took advantage of a sale on older figures and scored a Lapras for about $7.  Looks great and has an action feature.  The flippers move as you roll it forward or back.

Not a big pickup here, but having seen WCT's Toy Fair lineup, I know more Pokemon goodness is on its way soon.  Thankfully, a lot of original 150/151 Pokemon...yes, I am one of those "old Pokemon" farts.  C'mon, realistic Blastoise figure!

I also picked up this nifty lil shopping cart in the Walgreen's Easter display.  Should be a pretty decent scale for six-inch figures!

Avengers: Endgame

Avengers:  Endgame

Hasbro Marvel Legends

So, is anyone else going to admit that they are going to Endgame out of obligation?  For seeing something you’ve invested hours, years into for better or worse?  Is the sum of the whole truly greater than the parts?  MEH.  I just saw a “live-action” Mr. Mind...get the @$%& out of the way, Thanos!  And take ScarJo and lamewad Hawkeye with you!  Maybe the fact that this wave is a more balanced mix of comic book and MCU variations means that it’s all cooling down and even Hasbro is looking to wrap things up?

Let’s get the MCU figures out of the way...starting with Ebony Maw.  He’s a great figure which,
thankfully isn't too far of an interpretation from his comic look.  You get a completely new and unique sculpt with this guy.   His articulation is pretty good...able to move his tall, lanky frame into lots of poses.  He’s way more detailed and solid feeling than Proxima Midnight from the Infinity War wave. They are keepers solely because Thanos needs some minions.  Sadly, the Black Order ends with those two on my shelf.  The Infinity War wave 2 had too many MCU characters for me to care about assembling Cull Obsidian, and they’ve making you buy another movie Loki to get Corvus Glaive.  Lame.

The next MCU figure is Ronin...ugh Hawkeye.  I can’t believe I bought a movie Hawkeye figure.  Luckily, I got to these fast enough to be able to put him on EBay and get some money back on the Thanos part investment!  So long, sucker!

Finally we come to Quantum Suit Captain America.  He didn’t come with a BAF part, so I left him at the store.  Psych!  

Now let’s get to the comic goodness!  Nighthawk is one that I’m not all that familiar with.  Sorry, I don’t think he even had a Marvel Universe trading card.  I know that he’s a reformed bad guy and that he later becomes a Defenders mainstay, so that’s gotta count for something (double to discredit that Netflix garbage.)  I dig the costume, even if it makes him look a little more “DC.”  Must be the cape...and something about a “Hawk” making his debut a year earlier...hmm...

The Living Laser may not be in his classic costume (it is a little doofy, tbh), be we have another Mandarin Minion to beat on Iron Man!  His simple, translucent body works for his gimmick.  He comes with some white “electricity” effects that Hasbro is getting some mileage out of (Storm, Magneto, Laser so far.). Man, sorry for complaining about the overuse of the circular, bubbly magic/power effect that you pulled on us in every color of the rainbow!

Citizen V was the one I looked forward to the most here.  More Thunderbolts, please!  Good to see some more Baron Zemo love.  It’s too bad the MCU made him just “some mundane looking guy” and killed him off at the end of Civil War...guess the the Thunderbolts concept (bad guys masquerading as good) would take too much time to pull off anyway.  Ah, well...I wonder if his saber will be reused with a new Nightcrawler figure in the future?

Hercules is the surprise winner of the wave.  I was never a big fan of him in the comics (his inclusion in the world of modern superheroes was a little confusing to me), but I do have some issues of the short-lived “Champions” comics.  I’ve got Angel, Iceman, Black Widow, Ghost Rider, and now Herc...just need a Swarm figure, Hasbro, and I can die happy.  Herc has a unique sculp (I believe), two awesome weapons that can be sheathed on his back, and alternate punching hands.  The cheesy smile on the figures face fits its existence to a T.  It’s not his most classic look (some forum members are complaining too much about the pants), but the color shame is true.  Everything here works, and he sure is fun to pose and play with.

The bonus, Build-a-Figure for this wave is armored Thanos.  Yes....the one we asked for since he was teased onscreen waaay back in phase one.  Only, it’s not that armored figure...instead of true blue and gold, we get a rather dull looking bronze and gold.  WTF?!  I definitely foresee a greedy Hasbro double-dipped re-release/exclusive of the one we wanted all along somewhere in the near future.  I gave him a dark blue paint wash to bring out some line detail and tarnish him up a bit.














He has also been criticized for some size discrepancies compared to his earlier, non-armored self.  He should at least be bulkier in the torso and shoulders if wearing another layer of clothes, not smaller.  Unless, of course, he used the Gauntlet to slim down a bit between movies.  He also lacks a waist swivel and upper arm swivel, which is pretty common on most Legends.  This, partnered with the color scheme, makes the whole figure look and feel a bit cheap unfortunately.

Ah well, I did pry the helmet part off the nogging so I could do a head swap/unmasked display option with the Infinity Wars figure.  Fun, even if the purple skins don't match! And it’s not all that bad considering this is Hasbro’s first baf within a baf.  Or should I say bav...Thanos Copter Build-a-Vehicle!  Yes, you get one set of copter blades with this figure.  Like most MCU adaptations, it looks like the vehicle will have a more realistic look to...wait a minute...you say that it’s NOT copter blades, but some sort of double-bladed weapon for Thanos?!  SINCE WHEN DOES THANOS NEED A WEAPON OTHER THAN THE INFINITY GAUNTLET?!?!    Especially after the filmmakers dismissed his need for armor the first time round because he had the god-power weapon?!  Gah...I am so ready for the MCU to close shop.  Wishful thinking?  If only...*SNAP!*

Corvus Glaive vs. Vision

Corvus Glaive vs. Vision

Hasbro Marvel Legends

The coolest looking member of the Black Order is here...held ransom as a store exclusive (Walmart) in a 2-pack with an MCU Loki no one needs!  Ugh...into the "junk" drawer!

At least he comes with the Cosmic Cube, right?  While it is geometrically correct to call it a "tesseract,"  I refuse to do so in relation to the MCU.  Just another example of how ashamed the writers and producers are of  the "goofy" comic book source material they adapt.  And, no...it does not have an Infinity Gem inside of it for plot convenience.

Anyway, Corvus looks great.  He has the most detail in his costume compared to his associates, which Hasbro has nailed.  Being a later release like Ebony Maw, he really hurts Proxima Midnight's execution.  Too late for a do-over at this point!  He comes with his double-bladed staff for maximum robot impaling.

This classic Vision is from the second series of vintage-carded figures.  A bit pricey without a build a figure part, but this was the only way to get him.  He does come with a re-used/repainted Ultron head, which is pretty cool, even if there has never really been a decent classic body for him.

This figure replaces one of the sore spots in my remaining Toy Biz figures.  He was so gangly and loose...nightmare shoulders!  Though some TB figures did have great headsculpts.  I think this one looks a bit like Cary Elwes.  I like the solid, sculpted line separating his face/cowl, and the shading around the eyes, cheeks, and mouth really set it apart from this new release.  I also dig the black eyes.  Enough to make me do a lil custom work with my dremel to have an alternate head on this new body.  While it lacks the metallic sheen, I do like the way the old head looks on the new buck.  He's a robot...he can change his head whenever he feels like it, right?

"Age of Ultron" sucks.

X-Men vs. Sentinels

X-Men vs. Sentinels

Hasbro Marvel Legends

The 20th Century Fox/Disney deal may just have been finalized, but Hasbro had already talked some sense into the Mouse some years back to open the floodgates on X-Men figures.  And the rain just won’t stop!  After such a long drought, I’m drowning in them!  This a a look at a couple of waves and exclusives pieced together in one epic battle scene.

The Sentinels are rereleases from the Marvel Masterworks figures some years back, but this time in classic comic colors and packaged with a “Days of Future Past” Wolverine.  An Amazon exclusive, the set was priced a bit high for an old sculpt ($100), but I was able to hold out until a sale at Christmastime.  $50 was such a steal that I ordered two!  They join my two X-Men classics Sentinels (who I refer to as “Mark I” models) and my Toy Biz Legends BAF Sentinel (Mark II).  Five is always a decent number for army builders:  one leader, two on each side.

They are pretty heavy figures with decent enough articulation for their size.  I mean, it’s not like Sentinels ever did the splits in the comics or anything, so why do they need to here.  Usually they are seen walking like robots, flying with arms at their sides, or reaching out to catch mutants.  The figures can do all of that just fine.  The head movement is a little restricted with the light up features, but...

Oh, light and sound features!  The button on the chest activates a plethora of voice clips and sound effects while the face and eyes light up.  Cool, but they could have sacrificed this if it meant bringing the cost of the overall figure down.

The DOFP Wolverine is a decent pack-in, but there’s something off with that headsculpt.  Too squashy and the eyes too far apart?  I dunno...something odd about him.  The body is a retool from the Old Man Logan figure, but sports different texturing on the pants and details on the boots.  He has his comic-accurate leg holster.  Not sure about the gun, though...they try an get away with that laser pistol too often.

Seen fighting my army of Sentinels on the Ready Setz Urban Playset 2.0 are pieces of the Apocalypse wave (Tiger Stripe Wolverine, Multiple Man, Storm, Magneto, Psylocke, and Sabretooth), the Sauron wave (Bishop, X-23) and Walgreen’s exclusive Magik.  

Tiger Stripe Wolverine and Sabretooth are welcome upgrades from the Toy Biz days and essential if you love the Jim Lee/90’s toon look.  The sculpts and paint are fantastic.  Two complaints:  Wolverines head “fins” should bow out a bit more, and extra heads would have been nice.  How about a neutral Sabretooth face and...c’mon...how many Logan heads has Hasbro produced and reused already?

I’m not a huge Psylocke and Multiple Man fan, but they do look great in the ever-growing roster.  Psylocke’s outfit here has a more purple than blue sheen to it...not sure if that is a negative or positive...and the face sculpt, while decent, isn’t as close to the Jim Lee look as I would like.  Multiple Man is great, even if he does some with a repurposed jacket.  He also comes with two extra heads!  It’s like they assumed we would want some army building variants here!  Good on you, Hasbro!  Three of MM is enough for me, one for each expression.

Storm and Bishop might be my favorites of this bunch.  Punk Mohawk Storm!  The only thing better would be her Giant Sized X-Men costume, which we still do not have.  Bishop is just flat out perfect, page to figure.  I had the bald variant Toy Biz Bishop, who was always a bit oversized.  The noggins matched up okay, so I dremeled him out an alternate look.  Bishop can also used the translucent purple hands from Magneto to simulate his energy channeling power.















Magneto is pretty great, though I’m still waiting for the perfect, classic suit.  I’m not sure purple lighting bolts illustrate magnetic powers, bust its better than nothing I guess.  You do get his 90s Jerry Curl alt-head, which will come in handy when his classic replacement finally arrives.  It’s good, but not ass good as the X-Men Classics helmetless Mags head from Toy Biz.  Another simple dremel project...BAM!  Another style for the Master of Magnetism.

Magik is a Walgreen’s exclusive that comes with a lot of cool new (2 swords) and used (translucent red Ghost Rider skull, red Lockheed, blue lightning/flame effects) accessories.  Her mystically armored arm is appropriately spikey and looks great.  I would have preferred her in a classic X-Men/New Mutants outfit, but all black really works for showcasing her dark powers.  X-23 is the "new Wolverine" suit that I wish had come out before I bought the X-Force costume.  This one came with the foot blades and an alternate, unmasked head.  Sadly, quality control failed me here..the foot blades were so loose I just glued them in place and one of her hand blades was completely missing.  I had to customize the missing blade.  Sorry, Hasbro...one blemish on an overall great batch of figures here.

As far as characters and variety, Hasbro is absolutely crushing it.  All of these guys in one shot and I'm still behind on X-Men!  More to come, including the mentioned Apocalypse and Sauron BAFs, Professor X and the Shadow King, and even more Deadpool!  Surely you aren't tired of Deadpool, right?