Ray Arnold

Ray Arnold

Jurassic Park - Amber Collection

Mattel

Like the Star Wars Black Series, did Jurassic Park really need to be in a larger, more costly scale?  It may limit the variety of dinosaurs (or starships) we can get, but what we do get sure does look purdy.  Take this figure, for instance...Sam Jackson is back for the third or fourth time in this scale (Pulp Fiction, several Marvel Legends) and he has never looked better.

Mattel has really outdone themselves for a company that got by with the same suited body over and over again in the past (DC, Ghostbusters).  Ray Arnold appears to be totally unique, and sports a surprising amount of articulation for a character that is just seated at a computer for most of his screen time.    Double hinge elbows and knees, upper arm and leg swivels, torso ball joint, head ball joint, waist swivel...he can take service calls and leap into action to switch service breakers on a dime!

The head sculpt is great (particularly nice is the fade from hair to bald spot on top), really only hurt a bit by the execution of the glasses.  Glasses have always been hit and miss on action figures, but this one fares a bit better than others.  A lab coat and gray pants don’t make for an exciting toy, but the details sure make up for them.  Just check out that JP patch!  Pens in the pocket, tie design, striping on the shirt...nice attention to detail!

This figure doesn’t come with a stand like the others in the line...at least I don’t think he does.  I had to double check the packaging/trash just to be sure.  I assume they had to save plastic for his huge hunk of an accessory:  a 90s desktop PC tower/monitor!  It’s big, but hollow, and it’s made of a flexible, rubbery plastic.  It has a JP grid system map sticker on the monitor and, I’ll have to verify with Lex, an interactive CD-ROM!  Mr. Arnold also comes with a removable headset and a change of hands.  Sadly, he does not come with cigarettes or a hand to simulate smoking.  Yes, it is a harmful habit, but this is yet another one of those characters that it would just enhance that much more.  Delivery of “Hold on to your butts” and “PLEASE!  God dammit, I hate this hacker crap!” just wouldn’t be the same without them.  C’mon, they even get their own close-ups:

It is a bit strange that Mr. Arnold gets a figure in this scale before Hammond, or even Sattler and Grant.  It’s a testament to all Sam Jackson brings to this smaller part.  Let’s give him a hand or...oh...I forgot a key accessory:

Let’s review:  Dismembered, bloody limbs good, cigarettes bad...got it.

Take a look back at smaller scale Jurassic Park/World offerings from Mattel:

https://terribletoyman.blogspot.com/2018/06/jurassic-world-dinosaurs.html

https://terribletoyman.blogspot.com/2018/06/more-jurassic-world-dinosaurs.html

https://terribletoyman.blogspot.com/2018/06/dinobots.html

https://terribletoyman.blogspot.com/2019/05/jurassic-world-iii-primal-clash.html

Bill and Ted’s Bogus Journey

Bill and Ted’s Bogus Journey

Fig Biz, Incendium

Did we need another toy company throwing their hat in the ring with yet another scale of figure?  No.  Did we need more Bill and Ted?  Well, if we’re talking “Face the Music”, no...yes...maybe?  The second sequel was a bright spot during the height of Covid-19 hysteria. (Up to this point, it was my last trip to the theater.) The movie itself was so-so, but seeing Alex Winter and Keanu Reeves as the older-but-still-most excellent duo was worth the trip.  If you like the characters, it will be hard not to smile watching it.  Though it’s more in-line thematically with the original, Bogus Journey is still the better sequel.  One that is kinda forgotten...at least when it comes to merch.

Most excellent throwbacks to Toy Biz figures in the 90s!

Still having my old Kenner figures in the 5-inch scale, I didnt feel the need to update them with Fig Biz’s first movie offerings.  However, I could not pass up Bill and Ted in their Bogus Journey attire.  They look okay.  A bit soft or cartoony in the likenesses...they probably could have done better in the 6 or 7 inch scale.  

They are more articulated than most 5-inch figures, but they do have some major issues.  They have double-hinged knees, but only one cut and a swivel for elbows.  The shoulder joints have ugly, exposed pins.  Worst of all the crotch areas are large and hamper any natural sitting or bending poses.  Even getting them to rock out on their knees is difficult.  Also, what I thought was waist articulation turned out to be a strange design flaw?  

Accessories included are unique guitars, interchangeable hands with guitar picks, clear display stands and...best of all...interchangeable, evil robot Bill and Ted heads!  There would be temptation to buy two sets here, if they weren’t so expensive for the scale/size.  

They are $30 a figure...$30!!!  Each!!!  I know they are kind of an oddity, but $25 would be pushing it.  Most insulting of all is that they tried to save some tooling by reusing parts from the waist down, thus making Bill roughly the same height as Ted!  Ugh...

Anyway...$45 more if you want the signature vehicle. It’s very bare bones.  The door has a magnet feature to keep it open/closed, but no slide track, so its a bit loosey-goosey.  They phone is static/non-removable, and the antennae doesn’t even rotate. I wasn’t expecting any Kenner-like action features, but for that much, I was hoping for a little more imagination.  The “phone” signs glow in the dark, but even cheap knock off toys from China and Mexico throw in cheap LED lights.  Or maybe a removable top to make it more like the booth in Bogus Journey?  With Rufus’ grapnel guitar?

 

 

I’m being pretty harsh on these...they do look alright sitting on a display shelf.  Playability and value is where the excellent adventure takes a dive into a bogus journey.  I hope the Grim Reaper (coming out at a later date) fares better.  At least he’s not a skeleton this time (comics, Kenner figure) and he comes with a mini Twister mat.  And even with their shortcomings, I would welcome Station, Good Robot Bill and Ted, and Rufus, before Fiz Big calls it quits with this line.

  

Take a trip back in time with a look at Bill and Ted trading cards and Kenner figures:

https://terribletoyman.blogspot.com/2018/05/bill-and-ted-trading-cards.html

Ninja Turtles Accessory Set

Ninja Turtles Accessory Set

NECA

NECA’s 1990 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles line is great.  But like most NECA Turtles stuff, that is followed by “if you can find them.”  After the initial sets being hard to find SDCC exclusives, they have at least opened the line up to Walmart, and better yet, on-demand via their web store.  This accessory set is part of the latter, and was up for pre-order last year.  It was a long wait to see if a $50 supplemental set was worth the time and money.

And the best I can say is, it’s a mixed bag.  I love all of the accessories:  pork rinds, chips, turtle wax, pizza, panda bear, TV set, skateboard, manhole cover, straw hat, mutagen canister, busted Shredder helmet, newspaper, and street sign.  These all work to recreate small but memorable moments from the film.  Pork rinds has to the the topper, right?

Well, maybe second to these awesome baby turtles.  They are all the same sculpt and expressions, but for as small as they are, they are quite impressive.  Like the tiny baby Yoda in the Star Wars vintage series, I was surprised to see such articulation in this scale.  The heads are on ball joints, and the arms can move/rotate at the shoulder.  Nothing for the legs, but this might be completely true of the puppets they represent onscreen.

On the whole, I could have done without alternate heads.  I mean, how often do you want Ralph and Leo smiling in your display?  A neutral Mikey?  The laughing Donny is my favorite, if only because I can now recreate my favorite joke about Casey being claustrophobic:

The worst part about these heads is that they are on barbell joints.  Popping them on and off is no easy task, as you never know which end of the barbell is going to come loose.  Needle nose pliers and great care are needed not to damage them, or even greater care and time with hot water baths.  Honestly, it’s not worth the trouble.  I would have been happy without them if it knocked the price of the accessories down to $25-30.

If you are a TMNT 90 super fan, and have the NECA figures already, you will need these, regardless of overall value.  Aside from more obscure characters, I think this set has you covered for memorable accessories from the movie.  If you waited too long on the made to order pre-order, you may be out of luck.  Happy EBay hunting, cowboy!

Castle Grayskull

 Castle Grayskull

Masters of the Universe Origins - Mattel

Since Masters of the WWE Universe debuted first, and Origins was off to a slow start in 2020 as a Walmart exclusive line, I have been sitting on quite the amount of He-man figures.  The throwback line, which blends the classic aesthetic with modern articulation, has been moving at lightning speed in 2021, with 5-6 waves now available widespread at places like Target, Amazon, and online retailers.  There have also been deluxe figures, vehicles, creatures...and the return of one of the greatest play sets of all time. 

 

Castle Grayskull is just now starting to show up at Walmarts and Targets.  I am not sure how many each store gets at one time.  Judging by the size of the box, maybe two per case?  If you are hunting one, make sure to check other aisles outside of action figures...I found mine in the next over, with MOTU Mega Contrux sets.  It’s $75, which isn’t too bad considering it’s size and that it comes with an exclusive Sorceress figure.  

This all-white Sorceress is a variant from an old mini-comic “The Temple of Darkness.”  It makes sense to include her with this set, being the guardian of the castle.  However, the deco means a double-dip in standard colors somewhere down the line.  Too bad they didn’t go with an Origins debut for the awesome Castle Grayskull Man.  Still, it’s good to have her rounding out my heroic Masters for right now.  She comes with her staff, and the wing gimmick works much better than you’d think...you can almost get her to sit on the throne.

The playset itself is all you remember as a kid, but in a more flexible and less fragile plastic.  The sculpt is great and a little more filled out than I remember the old one being.  It still has the jaw bridge door that is activated by inserting the sword of power.  It has the working elevator, throne with trap door action, dungeon decal, computers, weapons racks, ladder...the same, but better than ever in sculpting and durability.  A couple of the platforms include cloth banners, which I think may be the only new additions.

It took a little bit of time to put together out of the box, and has some large stickers to apply...nothing too difficult, though getting the applications just right always makes me sweat.  Should be ready to play within 20 minutes.  Heroic Masters to arms!  Skeletor and his minions have laid siege to the castle!  

Land Shark vs Sky Sled!  Battle Cat vs Panthor!  He-man and Skeletor clash in their battle armor!  (The battle armors were always my favorites...and the roll-over damage drums carry over to this line!)

I may not have mentioned this in the WWE reviews, but in addition to the added articulation, these figure feature swapable parts.  This means you can outfit He-man with all sorts of different gear, or Frankenstein you own new characters.  Weird and fun!

This line is nostalgia done right.  Not just rehashing the past, but modernizing it and keeping it fresh for fans of old, while roping in a whole new generation.  It’s a sturdy line, meant for play.  And it’s cost effective compared to most other toy lines.  I had given away my original figures many decades ago, so having another go at these and being able to share them with my kids is a real treat.  I hope this line continues for some time, and doesn’t get derailed by whatever Kevin Smith is doing with a new Masters toon and whatever SONY is doing with a Masters movie.  They both have great track records, right?  Right?!  Sigh...Good journey, He-man, whatever the future throws at you.

Macho Man-at-Arms dares you to take a look back at these Master of the WWE Universe reviews:

https://terribletoyman.blogspot.com/2020/07/masters-of-wwe-universe.html

https://terribletoyman.blogspot.com/2021/01/rattlesnake-mountain-ring.html