Prince Adam
He-Man - Masters of the Universe (Mattel) - Series 3
Rated 4.25 stars by Karl T. Face
Superman may get some flak for his insufficient disguise, but this guy makes him look like The Chameleon. 3 waves in, the MOTU line started dropping "story" characters like Orko and Prince Adam. It was nice to see, although Adam (and later,most of Randor) was just He-Man with clothes. But hey, the show pretty much did the same. And the lavender pants and white shirt may just be painted on, but with the softgoods vest covering a lot of the chest detail, it actually looks pretty damn good. An elastic belt holds the thing closed, with a tiny yellow buckle. Articulation is the usual Big Five plus spring-loaded waist. You all know what to expect. The downside is that you can't really holster his sword on his back. At least you could fake that with the original harness. And you'd probably want...[See More]

Chakahachi and Lotus
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - Classic Cartoon (Neca) - Multi-Packs
Rated 4.70 stars by RMaster007
Thought the only ninjas in New York were human-sized mutant turtles? Well, think again. Lotus Blossom was a character who only appeared in two episodes, but she left quite an impact, because you can't go wrong with ninja babes. However, the NECA two-pack featuring her proved hard for me to find, and I was finally able to find it hiding amongst some of the more recent releases, yet had to go out of town for it. I really wish NECA would give more specific sculpting credits, because there's three people credited here (Tony Cipriano, Tim Miller, and Kushwara Studios), and I'm not sure which one of them did Lotus. Whoever's responsible, the head sculpt is fine, though the eyes seem to be a bit too far apart. They designed her hair to flow back so it won't get in the way of the sheath, and the...[See More]

Crawler
Convertors (Select) - Insectors
Rated 3.50 stars by Karl T. Face
We have Deluxe Insecticons at home. Nah, I kid. These things were actually out a year before the Deluxe Insecticons, licensing the same Beetras molds- which, interestingly, came from the same design studio as Bubblegum Crisis. This makes two lines that brought the toys into more hands than the original, often in better colors. Starting in beast mode, it's about what you'd expect- a blocky, angular robo-beetle with metallic stickers and improved greebles. I particularly like the cooling fins on the elytra. And of course, folded robot legs underneath, but only really visible from the sides and rear. The metallic blue and dull silver are slick as hell. Articulation is limited to the head and horn, and the turret-eyes. Robot mode is fairly solid-looking apart from a noticeable gap in the...[See More]

Wreck-Gar
Transformers (Super7) - Ultimate
Rated 4.15 stars by RMaster007
1986 was an important year for Transformers, as not only did the franchise receive its first feature film, but introduced some new characters, albeit at the cost of characters like Optimus Prime and Megatron getting scrapped or reformatted. Everyone knows the likes of Hot Rod and Galvatron, but who can forget Wreck-Gar, the Junkion whose vocabulary is sourced entirely from television? Not Super7, hence why he's the only movie-introduced character to get an Ultimate. Wreck-Gar may be one of the few Transformers to have facial hair, sporting a thin mustache and beard, along with the antennae on top of his head. It's a pretty good likeness of his cartoon design, with all the proper details and clean paint, but his face is a bit more yellow than it should he. I like how his face isn't just...[See More]

Alfred Pennyworth
Batman - Animated Series (McFarlane) - Basic Series
Rated 4.15 stars by RMaster007
The city of Gotham isn't just masked vigilantes and an overabundance of villains and corrupt businessmen, there's normal citizens as well, such as Alfred Pennyworth, the faithful butler of both Batman and his secret identity Bruce Wayne. He doesn't get a lot of figures, but DC Collectibles did make one, coming from the animated series. Only catch was that he only came with a big Batcave playset, and as you can guess, it goes for a lot nowadays. Thankfully, McFarlane came along and reissued Alfred on his own for a very reasonable price. Most of the Animated figures were done by Irene Matar, but Alfred was done by Tony Cipriano (McFarlane doesn't credit their sculptors, but DCC did). The head sculpt is certainly nice, with the raised eyebrow expression. It befits Alfred perfectly, since he...[See More]

Major Arnold Toht
Indiana Jones - Adventure Series (Hasbro) - Basic Series
Rated 4.00 stars by Wes68
The Adventure Series line lacks a lot of iconic baddies. There is a whole discussion that could be had about how do you market toys of baddies that were aligned with a certain fascist political party from 1930-40's Germany. I suspect this is probably a reason we didn't get characters like the German mechanic or Col. Dietrich from Raiders or Vogel from Last Crusade. Still their omission feels a bit glaring. We didn't even get any German soldiers or a Indy in a German uniform/disguise. Fortunately, we did get Arnold Toht, one of the most iconic baddies of Raiders if not cinema history thanks in large part due to his grisly demise. Toht doesn't come with a whole lot of accessories, but what he does come with makes for one of the better figures in the line. Toht comes with a pair of...[See More]

Indiana Jones (Raiders of the Lost Ark)
Indiana Jones - Adventure Series (Hasbro) - Basic Series
Rated 4.00 stars by Wes68
Indiana Jones doesn't see a lot of merchandise so I greatly anticipating the Adventure series from Hasbro. Sadly the line has run it's course leaving notable gaps in the line. You won't find Willie Scott, Mola Ram, Lao Che, Dietrich, Vogel, or other notable faces here. Crystal Skull was ignored entirely. Fortunately fans are seeing fit to customize their own. Despite the omissions, the Adventure Series does have a number of great offerings so I thought I'd take a look back at the figures we have had. To that end there is no better place to start than with Indy from Raiders who is the centerpiece figure of the line. The packaging itself is nicely rendered with some great art on all sides of the box. The fact he is boxed is somewhat controversial among some collector's, and while I would...[See More]

Clayface
Batman (DC Collectibles) - Animated Series
Rated 4.40 stars by RMaster007
All these DC Collectibles Batman Animated reissues has made me sought out the original releases, and while I've been checking eBay a lot for them, I have yet to get anything off there as it relates to the line. However, a recent toy expo allowed me to get my hands on one of the originals, being none other than Clayface. He didn't appear much, but any episode with him was bound to be good, especially his debut, "Feat of Clay," and his last appearance "Growing Pains." Catwoman was my first choice, but I saw this guy and went with him instead; besides, I heard that Catwoman breaks easily. Normally, these figures came on cardbacks, but Clayface was one of the boxed releases, due to his big size and accessories. The graphics are very simple, but there's the iconic credits illustration on the...[See More]

Bluegrass
SilverHawks (Super7) - Ultimate
Rated 4.35 stars by RMaster007
Sure, he may be partly metal, partly real, but Bluegrass still acts like a man from a much earlier time. A cowboy who seemingly traveled into the future, he doesn't need fancy cybernetic wings or shoulder lasers; all he needs is his lasso and a guitar. A guitar that shoots lasers. Bluegrass, like the other figures in this line, has a very accurate head sculpt. Four Horsemen was involved in the sculpting of these, but neither they nor Super7 bothered to credit who actually did this guy. He has his cowboy hat on, and it can be removed to reveal a mohawk underneath. Makes you wonder if he had one to begin with or if it was just part of the armor. He comes with three head sculpts: one neutral, one smirking, and one winking/grinning. They look great and swap easily, with very clean work on...[See More]

Raphael (In Disguise)
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - 1990 Movie (Neca) - 1:4 Scale
Rated 5.00 stars by Red89
I love these 1/4 figures. Though I do have the smaller scale figures, I feel the detail on these are just amazing....[See More]