Tron

Tron

Diamond Select - Kingdom Hearts

'Member Tron?  Tron Legacy?  You know...the successful revisiting that turned a profit but Disney shelved any potential sequels after they bought out Star Wars?  Fuck you, Bob Iger...

Anyway...new Classic Tron figures!  And they actually look like Bruce Boxleitner and David Warner!  I hope someone gives Mr. Warner one of these or it was part of a likeness deal because, with all the great movies he's been in, I don't think he's ever had a figure like this.  There's still hope that "Evil" will see the light of day on account of a new Time Bandits series in the works.

The figures look great and sport more articulation than was expected from the early promo images.  They looked like they may not have any knee articulation.  Final product?  Double-jointed knees!  The paint and lines are clean and my only gripes are that the costume is a bit restrictive with elbow movement and they did not come with identity discs...but I stole some fudge-ably scaled, glow-in the-dark ones from their smaller, retro counterparts!

Sora and Goofy look awesome, all decked out for the grid.  Articulation is similar with earlier versions of these characters.  Sora has the Tron-ed out Keyblade and Goofy gets nothing.  Aw, c'mon!  Small weapons getting cut as saving measures can't reduce cost all that much!  Not as much as you would save cutting a full character from...hey, where's Donald?!  Ugh...guess we'll have to keep our fingers crossed for a Walgreens budget release...

The lack of Donald is even more baffling considering the third pack from this Kingdom Hearts wave.  Mickey in his robes is the main draw here, and the larger Heartless is all-new...but another standard, inarticulate Darkness?  Sure, he's got a nifty, translucent purple paint job, but we couldn't even get a reused Keyblade for the Head Cheese?!  At least these negatives aren't as disappointing as the world selection for KH3!

I threw in a Tron Legacy Clu figure that I picked up on Ebay.  I didn't buy these with the movie's release, as they were slightly larger in scale than most figures I collected.  He's about 7.5 inches tall...so not too bad next to these new figures.  The articulation is not great, but I did always think the electronic gimmick was neato.  With the press of a button, a young Jeff Bridges flickers in the helmet and spouts several lines of dialog, appearing to be moving his mouth in an old school video sort of way.

If you like Kingdom Hearts, these figures are a win.  If you like Tron, these are a super win.  Get 'em while the gettin's good.  It's surprising that Disney let these guys out to play.  Tron isn't even featured in KH3...must be some big fans over at Diamond Select!  End of line...

Kingdom Hearts

Kingdom Hearts

Diamond Select Toys

Kingdom Hearts has always been a weird concept:  Final Fantasy meets Disney.  I've never been a FF fan, but anything that can breathe new life into classic cartoon characters is more than welcome.  Donald Duck is a wizard?  Sure, why the hell not!  Mickey Mouse with a sword?! Has he been allowed to be this violent since the 1930s?!  The awesomeness of the concept and gameplay should be enough for you to stomach nonsensical, Japanime-style storytelling.  Recommended!

Anyway, Diamond select began producing 7-inch scale KH figures last year.  Most figures come in multi-packs in stores, online, and comic shops ($25).  Walgreen's and Gamestop have produced a handful of paint-variant exclusives ($10).  Sometimes, accessories and character exclusives.  The Walgreen's Mickey has so far been the only way to pick up Pluto.  I hate character exclusives, but this one was pretty easy to find.

Articulation varies character to character, and is sometimes hindered by costumes or size of the figure.  Even with some limitations, they look great.  Pete and Goofy may be my favorites so far.  At least one more wave has been announce at this time:  Tron and Sark with Sora, Goofy, and Donald in their Tron outfits!  New Tron figures?!  No problems, only solutions!

This may be the best line of Disney action figures ever produced.  If you're a fan of the games, or just Disney characters, they are worth picking up.

Life-size Keyblade foam prop that I picked up at a comic convention for $25.

Some of the single-packed figures have been clearanced at Walgreen's for $5.  Roxas was worth it just for the Oathkeeper keyblade.  Happy hunting!

DuckTales

 DuckTales

5-Inch figures - PhatMojo

Sometimes a line completely slips under my radar.  I missed the news from NYC Toy Fair in February about a fairly new company, PhatMojo, producing a line of DuckTales figures.  Very few pictures leaked out, and even then, they were promos and prototypes.  Then, last week, these started to hit Target stores.  They popped up on the Target website, but they bungled it by not allowing you to select individual figures from the assortment.  It would have been ordering blind!  And even though I wanted a complete set, I wasn't going to take the chance to end up with four Launchpad McQuacks!  After some time issuing my complaint about this process with online customer service, the figures showed as "in-stock" at my local store.  Now, I don't know if I have complained about it before, but I loathe my local Target.  Restocking and supplying toys is inconsistent and the place is always packed with awful, uppity southsiders. (Springfield peeps know what I'm talking about)  I took a chance, drove down on my lunch hour, fought the hoards, and came out on top!  A full set of figures and accessories!  They were so fresh in the system, that a nice store associate pulled them from the back for me.  So, there's one plus for my Target.  Even if once I got to the checkout, it took three more associates to get them to ring up!

 

The first wave hits all the key players.  The adult figure assortment includes Scrooge, Glomgold, Launchpad, and Donald Duck.  (So great to see Donald in this series as a lead, just like in the comics!)  The kids come in 2-packs:  Huey and Dewey together, and Louie with Webby.  Each figure comes with one or two accessories and tops out at 5 points of articulation.  I have already seen collectors online complain about the articulation and scale.  Chill, dudes...you aren't the demographic for these toys.  And even so, smaller size (some wanted them closer to 3.75 inch) and more articulation would not only make them as fragile as all get out, but would affect the overall look of the figures in relation to the show's aesthetic. 

Collectors also complain about the scale of the plane, the Sunchaser, and the Money Bin.  Chill, dudes...its not like you've had to sacrifice scale for play factor and budget with vehicles and playsets before.  (There's a little movie that's been around for a couple of years that has some toys based around it. Maybe you've heard of it...Star Wars?)  Yes, the plane is a bit shrimpy, and wish it could seat at least two figures and had some sort of joystick or steering yoke.  It has rolling wheels, spinning propellers, and includes a Launchpad figure (you can skip on the single-packed figure going this route)...which is fine for this size and price point.  It's funny that the box advertises assembling the plane as an action/fun feature.  It made me wish that, keeping in line with Launchpad's gimmick, it had some sort of spring-loaded, button feature to make it bust apart. (like the old-school TIE fighters)

The Money Bin is, of course, way under scaled.  What? You expected something like a $500, crowdfunded Jabba's sail barge that doesn't even fit Max Rebo's keyboard?  Chill dudes...it works fine for a display piece/backdrop and the pop-open interior is a key location with play value.  I think it was made more to display the smaller PVC figures, but the 5-inchers do fit on the "shelves." It will look even better filled with all the spoils from Scrooge's adventures.  I'm probably going to throw in a lot of Hasbro Indiana Jones artifacts to fill it out.  It comes with a lucky dime replica, which fits on a pedestal in one of the rooms.  There is a vault dial on the back that you turn to make the playset pop open, but that's it for features.  At $30, I wish it had included a figure or at least more treasure.  Still, it looks pretty darn nifty and I cant imagine having the figures without it.

In getting my crack at fresh cases, I have to note that there are some downsides when it comes to paint apps.  There are some areas of bleeding and sloppiness, as well as scuffs and imperfections.  Also, be careful with the joints on the smaller figures.  I had to give the kids a hot water bath to loosen them up or they would be stuck in place or broken.  Other than that?  Quacktastic!

 

I couldn't be happier to have these.  It's one of those lines (like an articulated Word of Nintendo/Mario line) that we could only dream about as kids.  Now here they are in full force.  If the line stopped here, I would cope, as PhatMojo has already delivered what others could not. (I'm looking at you, Funko.)  I do have my fingers crossed for one more wave with Magica De Spell, Beagle Boys, Gyro Gearloose, Gizmoduck, Fenton Crackshell, Mrs. Beakley, Gladstone Gander, Goldie O'Gilt...so many Duckverse figures on the wish list!

 

 





 

 

 

"Oh, by the way, Launchpad...you're fired."