Zodac
He-Man - Masters of the Universe (Mattel) - Series 1
Rated 3.50 stars by Karl T. Face
This guy probably drinks with Metron and the Watcher. Zodac didn't do much back in the day. Introduced a story or two, breaks his vow of non-intervention a couple times, and that was about it. On one occasion, he oversaw a battle between He-Man and Superman. Dude got around in his few appearances. His presence in the series bible (series 1 was unquestionably closer to the storybooks) meant he still snuck in early. Unfortunately, he was a bit out of place there. Among the various fantasy warriors was this 50s spaceman with copious body hair and a ray gun. Now, I can appreciate that on its own, but here, he comes across as either too dull or too weird. At least he's a good weird. The flared boots and gloves lend a fun retro touch, the angular chest plate and bizarre helmet mesh well, and...[See More]

Professor Perry 2-Pack
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - 1990 Movie (Neca) - Secret of the Ooze
Rated 4.85 stars by RMaster007
NECA seems to have almost run out of characters from the first two TMNT films, or at least the ones everyone wants. They've done enough to satisfy fans, though, with the latest Secret of the Ooze release being not one, but two versions of Professor Jordan Perry in a single two-pack. I guess they really like him over there. Unlike most movie figures, this set is a much-easier-to-get NECA Store exclusive rather than a Walmart one, and is still available as of this writing. One of the Perrys comes wearing a TGRI lab coat, with a square-patterned shirt and brown suspenders, and the straps are sculpted onto the torso separate from the waist. The other Perry wears an orange jumpsuit, also TGRI-branded, but has that same shirt underneath it. There is quite a bit of shared tooling between both...[See More]

Manterror
Transformers - Beast Wars (Hasbro) - Deluxe
Rated 4.50 stars by Karl T. Face
Whenever anyone talks smack about Beast Wars designs, I point to the bugs. Manterror is a bit of an odd duck, in that he's one of those toy-only characters that didn't see any presence at all in fiction at the time. Selling on design alone, he was a winner in my book. Kicking off with beast mode, there was no way they could pull off full-length legs that could hold it up, so I can forgive the stumpy limbs. The oversized claws look strangely thick and powerful, like there's some crustacean mixed in there, which is interesting. The only real complaint I have is the mouth articulation: it reminds me of Flygon more than any arthropod. But hey, those balljoint wings have pretty good range. The color scheme is good: lime green and translucent green plastics, with a few touches of translucent...[See More]

Count Chocula
General Mills (Jada Toys) - Basic Series
Rated 4.40 stars by RMaster007
With Jada Toys making action figures for various popular licenses such as Mega Man, Street Fighter, and even Cyberpunk Edgerunners, sometimes we'll have to look back to a few years ago when they decided to enter the figure market. Universal Monsters was one of their first lines, and going hand-in-hand with those were a few figures of General Mills' spooky cereal mascots. Sure, anyone could make a Frankenstein, but who was willing to do Franken Berry? I've been on the fence on the figures for a while now, but I finally caved in and picked up Count Chocula for a good price not long ago. The packaging features the classic box art on the front, which fits for a cereal-based figure like this one. The back has a comic, albeit covered up a bit by other graphics, and there's even mock...[See More]

Six-Shooter / Jester
Puppet Master (Neca) - Ultimate
Rated 4.70 stars by RMaster007
It's been a few years already since NECA put out their first Puppet Master figures. The two-packs they did, one with Blade and Torch and the other with Tunneler and Pinhead, were very well-made with specific accessories, but they just stopped after that. The drought seems to have ended now with two much-needed characters: Jester, who I assume is the puppets "leader," and Six-Shooter, who debuted in the third movie. Starting with the one who came first, Jester is a rather devious-looking fellow, ready to find another victim. There's three sculpted lines running around the head, replicating how the parts of his head spun around to change his expression in the film. That feature was supposed to be here, but it got omitted; I guess it would've been too hard to implement given his small size....[See More]

K.O. Kruiser
Wheeled Warriors (Mattel) - Monster Minds
Rated 4.00 stars by Karl T. Face
As mentioned in my Saw Boss review, Wheeled Warriors is pretty bizarre. One of its more subtle curveballs is the inclusion of a couple plant-monster takes on Earth vehicles. To that end, here's a 60s flatbed truck from deep space in the distant future. K.O. Kruiser, the dumb muscle of the group, is fairly unassuming insofar as the dark blue truck body goes (apart from the vines), until you get to the sneering chrome mouth and headlight eyes. Not to mention the vaguely worm-like plant-bludgeon mounted in back like a tow arm. It's on a swivel/hinge, but isn't really long enough to reach anywhere since it can't spring out like in fiction. This felonious 4wD boasts four hardpoints on the sides, one on the hood, and four more in the truck bed. In fact, the entire cab is mounted on one, should...[See More]

Scumbug
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Super7) - Ultimates!
Rated 4.80 stars by RMaster007
Scumbug isn't a TMNT character you see talked about much. He wasn't really present much in past media, being just a one-time character in the original cartoon, and some other versions like the Archie comics barely looked like him, though Mutant Mayhem reintroduced him (or in it's case, her) to today's audiences. NECA already made a great figure of him a while back, but that hasn't stopped Super7 from making their own version. While NECA's Scumbug was a recreation of the toon design which was no different from the original Playmates toy, Super7's more directly updates the toy design. Most of that involves simply making him more colorful, with all those little bugs crawling over him now being painted, along with a few other additional colors. There are some changes to the overall design as...[See More]

Duffman
Simpsons (Super7) - Ultimates
Rated 4.50 stars by RMaster007
The first wave of Simpsons Ultimates had a guy who serves beer, and now we have a guy who promotes beer. Makes sense, doesn't it? Duffman is said to be played by many different people in the show, but he always looks the same (is there a bunch of guys who look the same in Springfield?). The man has a somewhat cylindrical head shape, wearing a Duff hat and sunglasses. The sunglasses aren't removable, but there are eyes sculpted and painted underneath, though he doesn't seem to have pupils. The default portrait is a grin, but he also has an open mouth head, as well as a head with a Duff sticker slapped onto his face, coming from "Pygmoelian." The sticker can actually be removed, pegging into the mouth, leaving you with an "oh yeah" expression. All three heads look nice, and the clean paint...[See More]

Hank Scorpio
Simpsons (Super7) - Ultimates
Rated 4.45 stars by RMaster007
In the history of one-shot Simpsons characters, none are more recognizable than Hank Scorpio. Granted, season 8 had a lot of great one-timers, such as camp collector John, the hard-assed but incompetent Rex Banner, and the tragic Frank Grimes, but Scorpio is fondly remembered as one of the nicest supervillains there is. We got a Playmates one years ago, but Super7 knew he was a fan-favorite, hence why he got the Ultimate treatment. Hank's portrait seems to capture the villain aspect of his character, with a stern, not-very-happy expression (somebody must've eaten part of his lunch). It looks accurate to the show, and the paint on the hair and beard is mostly clean, though the left eye is a little sloppy. Like the others, two additional heads are included: one with gritted teeth and...[See More]

Mighty Morphin Eye Guy
Power Rangers Lightning Collection (Hasbro) - Mighty Morphin
Rated 3.50 stars by Karl T. Face
Ironically, I eyeballed this extensively when it came out. Finally pulled the trigger on a trade, but there's a reason I waited. As a Kaiju nut and mythology fan, I couldn't turn down another classic Dora Monster in the end. This one's based on Argos, the hundred-eyed giant that guarded one of Zeus' side pieces from his frequent advances, despite her having already been turned into a heifer. Dora Argus, meanwhile, was created to trap a little girl in a nightmare dimension to break her spirit so their pathetic resident vampire could actually drink human blood for a change. Either way, this is some wacky stuff. First, the good. This thing is big, hefty, and very well sculpted. Various eyes are half-closed, and the freaky skin texture looks great. The articulation is the usual Lightning...[See More]