The Joker 1989

The Joker 1989

custom figure

Where does he get those wonderful toys?  Sometimes you have to cobble them together yourself.  Jack Nicholson's likeness rights must be as over the top as his performance, because only the uber-expensive doll company, Hot Toys, has been able to shell out for him.  Of course I had to buy that one!  As a kid, the closest we got was Sky Escape and Knock-out Joker...a very, very loose likeness, if any.  And the Toy Biz Joker?  A nice comic interpretation, but he's no Jack either.  Back to the Hot Toys doll...it's taken a decade or so after it's release, but someone online has finally managed to scale down the excellent head sculpt in the six and seven-inch scales! 

It took some work:  a dremel tool (to fit the head on a peg), some paint (many, many layers of model master acrylic purple), and a couple steady hands (my wife detailed the eyes and lips.)   It also required a suitable body.  Now, I've seen other customizers going all over the map here (Heath Ledger bases, various suit bodies and accessories) but I felt most of the work was already done with Mattel's 1966 Caesar Romero Joker figure (still cheap and readily available on Ebay).  The costume is similar enough and I feel it had a better Jack build to it than the other options.

Even though the pointing and closed fist hands on the Romero would work, I wanted my Jack to be able to hold some accessories.  I took some hands from a Batman Missions Joker figure, as they were already purple and had separated trigger fingers.  Now Jack is ready to do some poppin' and a shoppin'!

I'm by no means a skilled customizer.  Painting the face was a huge undertaking for me.  (I gave it a light blue wash to help some of the lines show better.)  Could it all be better?  Sure, but I am happy with the results.   I encourage all fans of Batman 89 who couldn't bite the bullet on the Hot Toys doll to jump in and give this a shot.  A dream of mine 30 years ago is now a reality.  He looks great with the NECA Michael Keaton Batman and Mattel Danny DeVito Penguin.  And with a Michael Gough Alfred on the way, its time to track down a Star Wars Black Series Lando Calrissian...

The awesome background artwork is part of the cover to Mondo's re-release of the Danny Elfman score...also highly recommended!

Ectotron and Starscream's Ghost

Ectotron and Starscream's Ghost

Ghostbusters/Transformers

Hasbro

Gozer is trying her hand at taking over Cybertron and the Transformers dimension.  Sure, why not?  That's the Traveler's MO and team-ups seem to be IDW's thing these days.  I liked the Batman/Ninja Turtles book, and all of their Ghostbusters books so far.  I haven't read this one yet, so I'm not sure how or why the Ecto-1 becomes a sentient Transformer...but it sure looks cool!  So cool that backstory isn't even necessary.  This is the kind of mash-up toy I had hoped for with the Transformers Star Wars letdown.  (The robots were basically mech suits that looked like their drivers instead of being separate characters.)

Is it worth $50?  Depends.  The concept works:  I think both car and bot mode look great.  The transformation is simple enough.  I like all the Ghostbusters nods like the name tag and the ecto-goggles on the head. Having the proton pack rigged inside the roof rack worked better than I thought it would.  The packaging was a nice throwback to old-school, Generation One Transformers. (This is one box I might keep.) 

There are a few gripes to mention.  The knees on mine are a bit floppy, making this photoshoot a bit frustrating.  The proton pack kept falling off the back, and the blue hose kept falling out of it's port on the wand.  The wand is not hidden in the transformation (a peeve of mine with all Transformers:  weapons not being properly integrated into the "disguise.") and is just pegged onto the side of the rack.  The articulation on the bot makes it difficult to hold the wand proper two-handed, Ghostbusters-style.  There is no logo on the back door.  And I hate that the Slimer figure has a Ghostbusters 2016 sculpt!  (Might be the biggest offense of all.)

Size comparison: just a bit smaller than the Jada die-cast, but should still look good with the GB minimates.

It would have been nice to have a few more, standard GB accessories, like a proton stream and a ghost trap.  I mean, how is Ectotron going to wrangle and incarcerate my bootleg/knock-off of Starscream's Ghost?  Yes, news of this figure had me searching again for the translucent seeker that Hasbro should have given us a decade ago.  I think it ended up costing me about $15 from China.  It has a few problems, like the shoulder ports for his guns being too loose to hold them, and I had to dremel down a metal pin that kept the cockpit area from transforming properly.  Still, I love that classics sculpt!

I preordered Ectotron on Gamestop's site some time ago, but it has since sold out.  He is a bit pricey considering Voyager Class Transformers go for about $30 these days, but I assume the extra went into making this happen with rights/licensing fees.   I hope to be able to track down the SDCC exclusive Optimus Prime in Ghostbusters deco soon to really make this mash-up pop.  Then the only problem I should have is which collection shelf they should sit on!  I would love for Hasbro to work out deals to turn other classic screen and television cars into Transfromers.  The Delorean time machine, 007's Aston Martin, KITT, the A-Team van...just as long as they are each given their own sentient identity or that of an existing Transformer character.  (Man, I'm really bitter about Star Wars...)

DC Primal Age

DC Primal Age

Funko

Okay, I admit...at first, I hated this concept.  One, it's Funko, and two, who wants to go backwards in action figure engineering?  A retro toyline that is a mash-up of the Masters of the Universe and the DC universe?  Turns out, it can be a lot of fun.  

Collecting MOTU classics for decades now, it was nice to revisit simpler times.  These short, stocky musclemen don't need 40+ points of articulation...they're built for play.  Sturdy and colorful, they look great and won't break the bank at around $10 a figure.  Speaking of breaks, however....

"Outrageous!!!"

I had heard of many breakage issues with the early Amazon releases. I had to return Aquaman twice, as the legs snapped off at the ball joints with very little pressure. Gave the third one a hot water soak and some light working...no breaks, but the plastic is still showing signs of wear. I popped the legs off and reinforced the pegs around the ball joint with some small strips of duct tape.

The second-round releases from Target are pretty solid so far, as are series 2 that I got the other day from an online retailer. I think Funko fixed the QC problems, but beware of older stock still floating around out there.

The Batcave playset is pretty awesome. It has a throne, primative bat-computer, jail cell, extra weapons that clip to the walls, a training dummy, and a heavy plastic beast rib cage that acts as a ladder to the second floor. Probably not worth the $70 price point, but I got an Amazon Warehouse deal on a damaged box for $38. I originally bought it to go with the MOTU Classics figures, which it does suit, but it acted as a gateway drug to the rest of the line.

"This is the Batros Cave now, beeyotch!"

Soon after, I was buying the Target exclusive gray and black Batman and the first wave from Amazon at lower prices. Series two was even better than the first, bringing Superman, Flash, Black Manta, Lex Luthor, and Bizarro into the mix. Manta and Luthor sport some great detailing on their armor that put them on the top for best figures in the line.





















Adding to the fun are some battle beasts. They have no articulation, like the old days with Battle Cat and Panthor, but are fairly detailed and have some killer rider gear. The throne on the Joker Beast is solid plastic with some great faux wood detailing. Ace the Bat Hound has a removable mask and saddle for Batman. Krypto's cape looks great, but that's all you get for accessories and it barely constitutes a saddle. Oh well...when your owner can fly, what's the point?

I also picked up a retro metal lunchbox at Target for $3. Even without a thermos, I can't beat that price. It makes a good storage case if nothing else.

I do hope to see another wave of these, but considering the first wave hitting clearance early on and Funko's reputation for abandoning lines even after one offering, chances are slim. Knowing what to look for with the first batch problems, I would recommend these figures, especially if you are DC/MOTU fans that grew up with the original He-man concept.

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!