Shazam Part II

Shazam Part II

DC Multiverse and True Movies Figures

Mattel

The one true Captain Marvel is here!  So many haters have been silenced by excellent reviews and box office receipts...Shazam!  The DC Cinematic Universe is finally finding it’s footing, no thanks to Sad-Sack Snyder.  Anyhoo, we’ve got some more movie figures to look at from Mattel, and they are surprisingly great as well!

The six-inch DC Multiverse Shazam figures are some of the best figures Mattel has done to date.  The sculpting, head scans, and articulation rivals that of Marvel Legends.  Like the Aquaman movie line, the actor likenesses are spot on.  

Shazam’s colors pop, and little details like the suit texture, sharp lines, and tiger buttons all stand out. You get some extra hands for accessories, but that’s it.  I would have liked to have seen some lightning effects included and a pissed off alternate head...or maybe a bubble-gum bubble like the promo images.  You can get him in a lot of great poses.  If there was one gripe here,  it’s that the torso might appear a bit long.  Forgiven...they have double-jointed elbows!

Dr. Sivana might just be a “guy in a suit” figure, but its a totally new suit and articulation scheme than we’re used to from Mattel.  Used to be that they would cheap out on something like this if they couldnt figure out a way to reuse a buck about ten times over.  And the suit doesn’t hinder articulation...he still has an ab crunch!  He even bests the Big Red Cheese in the accessory department.  He has alternate hands, a magic 8 ball ("Outlook not so good!"), and a second head!  One with his sunglasses, the other sans glasses to show his New 52 thunderbolt scar.

As a bonus with Sivana, you can modify your basic Pedro figure to fit his head and...Shazam!  A superpowered Doc from an old comic one-shot!

The Multiverse figures look to be Walmart Exclusives for now, but I have seen them on Amazon with a summer listing.  Sivana is short packed...maybe one to every 5 Shazams by my count, so he could be a tough one to track down if you hesitate on him.  It’s strange that these figures are only a 2 character wave with no build-a-figure.  I bet Mattel will regret that as they did in short-selling Aquaman.

I also picked up their 12-inch True Moved counterparts.  As I have said before, I love these big, cheap collector and kid friendly dolls!  They have 11 points of articulation and decent sculpts for ten bucks.  They sure beat Hasbro’s attempts in this scale!  Again, Sivana looks to be short-packed.  I spotted this lone one at Target after striking out at multiple Walmarts.  Backtracking to the basics line, Target seems to be the only place to score those.  Get em while you can!  The movie is going to rock, and with Mattel checking out, this may be your only shot at them!

Disney Afternoon

Disney Afternoon

Funko

Whoa!  A Funko acquisition that isn’t lazy and doesn’t suck?!  To be honest, I was obligated to buy these for Uncle Scrooge...and Darkwing Duck...and though they are waaay out of scale, I like Chip and Dale for their homage to Indiana Jones and Magnum PI...Sorry, Baloo, I love you, but I wasn’t a big Tale Spin fan.  You’re lucky to be along for the ride!  Until Launchpad gets here, Scrooge could use a pilot for his adventures.

These are solid, well-made figures that are technically in the four-inch scale.  Yes, either the Rescue Rangers were zapped by Wayne Salinski’s re-embiggen setting, or the others got shrunk to match.  Baloo should be a little bit bigger, but...The articulation varies character to character, and it good enough in keeping with the animated aesthetic.  

Scrooge fairs the best with accessories, coming with his cane and a classic money bag.  Darkwing has his gas gun, and Dale has a mini figure of Zipper...Baloo and Chip get nothing?  C’mon!  How about a shipping crate with Shere Khan’s business logo on it?  At least throw us a magnifying glass!

I have been sitting on these a while.  They just seemed to drop on retail without much warning one day.  They are great for the price (around $8) and can still be found at most Target stores and online (some marked down.)  I think I hesitated in posting these because Funko is notorious for getting a line out, then dropping it after one wave.  I didn’t want to get my hopes up for a robust DuckTales line.  Luckily I had Phat Mojo while I waited.  I waited and forgot and...well well well...there was a sequel!  Coming soon!

Around the same time that these came in, a collection of old Disney Afternoon Nintendo games were packaged together on PlayStation and XBox virtual stores.  I cant count how many runs I’ve made on the original Ducktales game.  The legendary pogo cane, the fun co-op option in Rescue Rangers, the variety of gadgets and bosses in Darkwing Duck...Capcom really made the best of these properties.  Except for...oh, sorry again, Baloo.  Your game got the short end of the stick.  Ducktales and RR even got sequels, also available here in this $20 package.  Not bad for a nostalgia kick!  Get it today before the rights lapse!

Mean Gene Okerlund, Rowdy Roddy Piper, and Jake the Snake Roberts

Mean Gene Okerlund, Rowdy Roddy Piper, and Jake the Snake Roberts

Mattel WWE - Flashback Series(Walmart), Hall of Fame (Target)

Three more WWE Legends immortalized in plastic!  Piper and Jake have had several Mattel renditions over the years, with differences in attire and articulation.  Do these have what it takes to make the collection?  Plus, everyone's favorite wrestling interviewer Mean Gene Okerlund finally joins the fray!

Jake is sporting tights from his feud with Ravishing Rick Rude, hence the giant rat in a robe on his left leg.  It was a decent feud, but pretty specific and frustrating for those looking for the definitive Roberts.  (The one that came closest was the All Stars two-pack with Randy Orton.)  It's still a good figure, but may have needed an accompanying Rude with Cheryl Roberts face painted on his tights to really sell it.  You do get two snakes for accessories, but it would have been nice of them to throw in a carrying bag.  C'mon, Mattel...you put a bag in the basic two-pack with Dean Ambrose!  There have been some complaints about the torso on this figure being more defined than the real Jake ever was (and I agree), but the weird body hair stubble paint job is too gross to make you want to look at it too long in scrutiny.

This may be the difinitive Piper for the time being.  It sports the longest hair of the releases so far, and the head sculpt looks pretty darn good.  The open mouth may not be everyone's cup of tea for display but, c'mon, Rowdy Roddy rarely kept his mouth shut for more than a second or two.  The cloth shirt is nothing new, but It's kind of puzzling that they didn't go the same route with the kilt.  The rubbery material cuts down on some of the leg movement when on and it can be difficult to fasten again once removed.  Still, all-in-all, this is my go-to for awesome backstage promo-cutting Piper.

Did someone say promos?  You can't cut a classic promo without Mean Gene Okerlund reigning it all in.  Like Howard Finkel, they originally planned to cut him up and distribute him as a build-a-figure some years back.  This wave made it out with limited distribution (maybe overseas), leaving a lot of fans in the cold.  Thankfully, we got another shot at him as a Walmart Exclusive...single packed...with accessories!  With additional arms and blazer (red), you get two different display choices.  He also comes with a big production light to help assemble your backstage area.  Oh, and of course he has his microphone to catch all that beautiful wrestling prose.

These are great figures of the greats of wrestling.  The only one I could see passing up is Jake because of the specific attire.  Though, to be safe, pick him up...you never know when it might be your last shot at this era.

RIP Rowdy Roddy Piper...RIP Mean Gene Okerlund.  Gone but never forgotten.