Titan Hero Sentinel

 Titan Hero Sentinel

Marvel, X-Men '97 - Hasbro

Everyone's favorite comic-adapted cartoon is back!  No, not Batman: The Animated Series.  Okay, everyone's second favorite comic-adapted cartoon is back!  X-Men '97 is on the way with some new toys to boot!  Marvel Legends six-inch scale will be later, but the four-inch Epic Hero scale is beginning to hit stores now, along with a compatible Blackbird jet and and one big baddie:  the Sentinel.  

These "Titan" figures are about fourteen inches tall and can be good enough to stand in with Legends figures.  (Thank goodness for the Arcade Game and fighting games for allowing us to fudge scale on these army builders.) 

They aren't super articulated, but sport more than standard, twelve-inch scale Hasbro offerings.  Paint and detail are minimal, but they match the cartoon and the comic source material.  Big, solid robots...nuff said.

As for army building, I went in for two...for now.  I've already got the Haslab Sentinel as Master Mold, a couple of Marvel Universe, one Toy Biz build-a-figure, and two re-released/upgraded 90s Toy Biz.  Robots get upgraded all the time, so my head canon changes to explain the size and design differences.

These new ones are $22 each, but I got mine as Amazon Warehouse steals for $15 (damaged packaging).  I like them enough to add a few more down the line, but will also keep my eyes open for another deal before I jump.  

If you don't have any Sentinels to menace your mutants, you cant lose with these.  If you like army building, they are worth picking up as well, even if you have more advanced "machs."  Grab them now to reenact the soul-crushing opening from the original series where (spoilers) Morph bites it and Beast gets incarcerated for several seasons! 

Beef Boss

Beef Boss

Fortnite Legendary Series

Jazwares

As I said before, Jazwares is killing the 6-inch figure game with figures from a video game that I have never played.  Great, old-school Marvel Legends articulation (Toy Biz, yo) with tons of accessories and funky character designs.  I use the line primarily as goon army builders and placeholders in my DC/Marvel collections.  But some that don’t fit there are just too fun to pass up.  Like Ralphie (aka Rabbit Raider) and Beef Boss here.

Would you like fries with that?  Super-size for only 39 cents more?

I love fast food.  McDonald’s in particular.  So a figure with a McD-inspired burger puppet head, Ronald-esque bright colors, and a giant spatula weapon is an instant win.  No waiting for this one to go to clearance...I needed him now!  He shares the basic soldier body type that many of the other Fortnite characters have, but get a load of the sesame seeds sprinkled throughout!

NO.  SPECIAL. ORDERS!!!

Along with the spatula, he is armed with a wicked looking assault rifle, two pistols, a plate with a slice of cake, and a giant French fry backpack.  My favorite detail is the holster on his backside that has non removable ketchup and mustard bottles.  Man, I wish I still had some of those old Happy Meal Fry Guys toys to stand with him as henchmen.

“I knew you’d ketchup to me sooner or later.  How I relished this meeting.”

While he looks nothing like the character Batman the Animated Series or his comic look, thematically I think he makes an excellent stand-in for the Condiment King.  If not him, at least he checks the 60s comics gimmick of the week box.  He would definitely fit in the Tick’s universe...if only there were modern Tick action figures.  Oh well, I still had fun recreating one of my favorite Batman TAS moments with him:

“Come, Batman...let’s see if you can cut the mustard.”

“QUIET!”