Air-Raiders - Battle Squad
Air Raiders (Hasbro) - Soldier Assortments
Rated 4.25 stars by Karl T. Face
Many 80s toylines were a gimmick first and a story second. It worked for a lot of them, but there were casualties. As I've said before, this was a small-scale army builder type of line, and there were often empty seats on the vehicles regardless. Once again, we have four troops and an officer. The grunts are tan, with orange torso armor. Said armor is intricately plated, almost buglike. A few hoses snake in and out, and there's a pistol holstered on the waist. The arms are fairly plain in the hands and biceps, but the bracers are a mass of greebles. The legs are also basically spandex above the knee, but the "boots" look like futuristic sneakers with leather leggings and heavy braces on the ankles. The helmets, meanwhile, are oh so pulp: almost a HALO jumper sort of thing, but...[See More]

Tyrants of Wind - The Enforcers
Air Raiders (Hasbro) - Soldier Assortments
Rated 4.25 stars by Karl T. Face
Air Raiders. Quite the obscurity these days, it was mostly just 5 issues of a comic I've never seen anywhere, and a gimmicky toyline. But it had a lovely swooping aesthetic, rather like pulp sci-fi art, with oddly detailed figures. And the best part was, there were troop builders. The Enforcers are the rank and file troops of the Tyrants of Wind, who tyrannically rule a large colony on an otherwise airless planet. They're totally brainwashed, and live to subdue, terrify, and enslave. Our daring rebels have their work cut out for them. And what figures they are! In simple blocks of desaturated purple and grey, without a lick of paint, they still look great. A visored helmet tops a knight-like environment suit with heavy gauntlets, thick boots, and concave pauldrons. Bits of hose peek out...[See More]

Sgt. Hacker vs. Scalpel
G.I. Joe vs. Cobra (Hasbro) - Spy Troops
Rated 4.25 stars by Karl T. Face
Sometimes the also-rans are also worth it. What we have here is a pair of characters that were present in the current comics, but pretty much disappeared shortly afterward. The Spy Troops line was plagued with odd proportions, ugly action features, and some fairly hilarious disguises. But even those have their uses. Opening with Sgt Hacker, ostensibly the meat of the set. He's the tech guy, that's about all there is to him. He's got a wee little torso, but everything else is in proportion. It pretty much goes away if you put him behind the wheel of something, or just have him crouching over an access panel. I always appreciate some nice plain colors in this line, and while we get a fair amount of highlights in blue-gray and two blues, he's still very plain and utilitarian. Apart from the...[See More]

Mad Hatter (Alice in Wonderland)
Disney (Super7) - Ultimates
Rated 3.75 stars by RMaster007
With Super7's now-ended Disney Ultimates line, they sought to represent some of the company's most popular films, including Alice in Wonderland, which was fortunate enough to get two representatives in one wave. I got Alice months ago for a discount, and even by Super7 standards, she was poorly-made. The Mad Hatter was released alongside her, and I recently got him for cheaper through eBay, so it's time to see if he's any better. One thing I'll credit Super7 for is that they gave all of their Disney Ultimates a unique package. The Mad Hatter has a wider than average box, as to fit all his accessories, but it's designed to resemble his huge table, complete with various silverware and lantern lights, while the slip cover has a swirly green checker pattern. Even though there's very few tape...[See More]

Donald Duck
Disney (Beast Kingdom) - Dynamic 8ction Heroes
Rated 4.35 stars by RMaster007
The one stuck with all the bad luck, cranky and mischievous Donald is the opposite of the more happy-go-lucky Mickey, and has much more personality to him. My favorite incarnation of him comes from the old newspaper comics, and if you haven't read those, I recommend checking them out. Donald's received a couple figures and other merch over the years, including Beast Kingdom's Dynamic 8ction Heroes figure. I've seen plenty from the line, but Donald's the first one I got in-hand, mainly cause I was able to get him on discount. The packaging is simple in graphics, having an illustration of Donald's head on the front of a blue box. Inside is a thick paper insert designed after Donald's shirt, and below that is a tray that holds all the contents in. It's easy to open it up and take everything...[See More]

Bonehead
Toxic Crusaders (Playmates) - Basic Series
Rated 4.50 stars by Karl T. Face
Ladies and gentlemen, The 90s! Toxic Crusaders was an anomaly. The latest in a long line of R-rated films to become a toned-down cartoon, but it was the first to carry a clear environmental theme. Captain Planet via Troma. Also, it was from Troma. Case in point: this half-skeletal neon biker punk. The hideously deformed equivalent (of superhuman size and strength!) of the average Tromaville hooligan, this guy's rocking the full biker outfit in various colors ranging from dark purple to flame orange. Although there's no visible flesh on him, other than his incredibly withered face, the clothed parts are still pretty normal-shaped. Probably the only thing holding him together. As was the Playmates custom at the time, the sculptors far outstripped the paint budget, and there are an awful lot...[See More]

Tracks (G1 Cartoon)
Transformers (Super7) - Ultimate
Rated 4.10 stars by RMaster007
One thing that bothered me about Super7's Transformers Ultimates line was the lack of major Autobots. Optimus Prime and Grimlock were expected, but not Tracks, since he's not as mainstream as the likes of Bumblebee, Ironhide, and others. I guess S7 was satisfied with just doing the Autobots in ReAction form, and Tracks didn't receive a figure like that, hence why he got the Ultimate treatment. Another figure in the line lifting their design from the old Sunbow cartoon, Tracks is red-faced, but not in an embarrassed way, rather in the fact that his head is red and white. The head is fully painted with a matte finish, and although the edges aren't clean, I appreciate the effort. He has a stoic expression, since Transformers then weren't super expressive, though he comes with an alternate...[See More]

Baby Sinclair
Dinosaurs (Neca) - Ultimate Collection
Rated 4.75 stars by RMaster007
While sitcoms featuring puppets weren't new, Dinosaurs was the first (though I could be wrong) one to have the whole cast be puppets, courtesy of the crew behind Muppets and Sesame Street. It took me a while to pick the show up, as in, just started it while writing this review, but the show is known for tackling social issues very well for a comedy with people in dinosaur suits. Following their success with ALF, NECA decided to tackle the other popular puppet sitcom. Everyone's been talking about Earl (who I'm currently trying to track down), so I'll be going over the other character out right now, Baby. The packaging isn't anything too special, featuring stock art on the front, and shots of the figure on all the other sides. The graphics do the job well, including the WESAYSO logo on...[See More]

Chester Cheetah
Chester Cheetah (Jada Toys) - Basic Series
Rated 5.00 stars by RMaster007
Over the past year or two, Jada Toys has evolved from just a company dedicated to die-cast cars and miniature figures to one of the best names in action figures today. Their Street Fighter and Mega Man licenses have been shaping up pretty well, and they have other licenses coming like Cyberpunk Edgerunners. In between the popular properties are more unexpected choices, like, who expected a figure of the Cheetos mascot Chester Cheetah? I'm more surprised it didn't happen sooner. The box for Chester is very similar to what Jada did with their General Mills monsters figures, given that it's a fifth-panel window box with the same graphics as a Cheetos bag on the front (Crunchy Cheetos, since that's the best kind), and "Action Figure Facts" on the side. The contents inside are held between...[See More]

Faker
He-Man - Masters of the Universe (Mattel) - Series 2
Rated 3.50 stars by Karl T. Face
Cue the Eiffel 65. I'm not going to harp on the ineffectiveness of the disguise here, as it's been done to death by better writers than myself. Even if the cartoon had him flesh toned, all other media was garish to some degree. Frankly, he wasn't even a robot in the cartoon, so that's a different continuity anyway. What we have here is a blue He-Man with orange hair, wearing neon orange Skeletor clothes. The "robot panel" sticker on his chest is, sadly, mostly hidden, but it's got a reel-to-reel tape on there. That's charming as hell. Accessories are pretty limited for a simple redeco- just the sword. This would've been a great opportunity for the axe, given the more brutal nature of the character, and he'd look slightly less like a retread. That said, the colors and parts do play well...[See More]