Wingnut & Screwloose
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Super7) - Ultimates!
Rated 4.75 stars by RMaster007
Judging from what been's shown off recently, it seems as if Super7 is shifting away from recreating old TMNT toy designs in both Ultimate and ReAction form. I believe Playmates wanted them to dial back or stop since they're going heavy into reissues as of late, and fears people would prefer S7's offerings (despite being completely different and pricier). It's a shame, since their vintage-inspired Ultimates have been getting better and better, such as the heroic bat alien Wingnut. Wingnut has a rather crazed expression here, with a wild-eyed stare and his tongue sticking out, but you'd be a little loopy too if you got sucked into a vortex as your home planet was being destroyed. Like usual, the Four Horsemen team provided the sculpts, properly updating the old toy designs, and Wingnut is...[See More]

Destro
G.I. Joe (Super7) - Ultimates
Rated 4.40 stars by RMaster007
Good thing I decided to hold off a bit on the second wave of G.I. Joe Ultimates, since I was able to get all of them for just under a hundred total, the last of which being Destro, another major C.O.B.R.A. member. Unlike the other figures in this wave, Destro doesn't suffer from glossy, unpainted skin, since he has no visible skin. His head is covered by a metal helmet, featuring a metallic finish, and it looks really good. Since it's a cartoon, Destro's helmet expresses with him, hence why there's thick eyebrows on it. He comes with four heads, a bit more than usual for Ultimates: one neutral, one shouting, one laughing, and one covered in lava, coming from one of the early five-part episodes. All of them are great, and the clean paint certainly helps. At about 7 1/4" tall, Destro...[See More]

Krusty the Clown
Simpsons (Super7) - Ultimates
Rated 4.45 stars by RMaster007
Given that Krusty's the most merchandised man in Springfield, it's no surprise he'd get the Ultimate treatment. Krusty appears how he almost always does, in his clown makeup. Without it, he'd look like Homer but with more hair. The default portrait is the stock happy Krusty face, with clean paint and good texture on the hair, but his other two heads reflect his off-air personality. One catches him in the middle of a scream of agony/frustration, with mouth wide open and squiggly tongue, and the other is a bored, grumpy Krusty. All three heads look great, and fit the character perfectly. The last head was originally going to be a more annoyed look smoking a cigarette, but Disney told them no smokes, so they had to replace it (hopefully Krusty's wearing a nicotine patch). Standing about 7...[See More]

Evil REX-1 (Terminate the Turtles)
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - Classic Cartoon (Neca) - Basic Series
Rated 4.70 stars by RMaster007
Last year saw the arrival of REX-1, one of the most wanted characters, in NECA's TMNT cartoon line, and I assume we all knew they'd follow up with the evil clone Shredder made of him. About a year later, here it is, and much easier to find, too! The packaging stands out from the rest of the single-packed toon figures in that it's based specifically off FHE's "Sewer Heroes Series" tapes, the first to have such a style since the GITD Muckman from '22. The art, done by Aaron Hazouri in his usual cartoonier-than-the-original-series style, depicts poor Donatello at the mercy of this evil robocop, while the bio on the back is a corrupted version of good REX's bio. The exterior is great, but the interior is the problem, as there's a ton of those damn plastic ties. Why NECA is so obsessed with...[See More]

Saw Boss
Wheeled Warriors (Mattel) - Monster Minds
Rated 4.50 stars by Karl T. Face
Wheeled Warriors was wonderfully weird. A young hero, a wizard, Basically Han Solo, a human/plant hybrid, and a dwarfish warforged pilot crazy vehicles in their quest to defeat a bunch of evil plant monsters that produce cyber-plant war machines. The 80s! Saw Boss, here, is one such machine. Technically, it's one of the type produced by Saw Boss, but they all seem to be able to project their consciousness into any given unit, so it counts. The general layout for this line is a unique body and main weapon, with the wheels, axles, and additional weapons interchangeable between them all. Saw Boss is basically a smooth techno-dragon head in jet black and gold chrome. The axle bit is a trike, with two pairs of wheels and a couple triangular tank treads. Nominal placement is treads up front,...[See More]

Dreadnok Air Skiff (with Zanzibar)
G.I. Joe - Classic Collection (Hasbro) - Series 6 - Accessories
Rated 4.00 stars by Karl T. Face
I love the Dreadnoks. They're equal parts wacky and threatening, and have a lot of visual personality. Some even have pizzazz. Smuggler, pirate, and if Jack Black is to be believed, a pretty versatile chef, Zanzibar lends some much needed amphibious air support to the 'noks. Sporting a unique sculpt that brings Waterworld to mind more than anything else, he sports two grenades, a pistol, and a knife, all sculpted on, plus a pistol, billhook and mallet. The ponytail is usually in dire need of some straightening. On to the ride! The Air Skiff is one of those improbable contraptions that crop up at this price point, a hilariously tall hydrofoil with a seat plopped on top like a zero-turn mower. It's got a lot of swooping shapes, and looks pretty good in green and yellow in spite of itself....[See More]

Iggy (with Magic Wand)
Super Mario (Jakks Pacific) - Basic Series
Rated 3.95 stars by RMaster007
It's been almost ten years since Jakks Pacific enhanced their presence in the action figure market through their partnership with Nintendo, making many of their properties into figures. Nowadays, the main focus is on the world of Mario, and it's not hard to see why, with plenty of characters and variants to make. I've mostly been getting their Sonic line, but I'm slowly getting back into their Super Mario line, and the low prices make them nigh-irresistible to get. I've been with the World of Nintendo line from day one, and as years went by, it went from a uniform packaging motif to graphics specific to the properties. The Mario figures are a traditional cardback with stock art on the front, and character bio and cross-sell on the back. It's sorta generic, but it works fine for a line...[See More]

Bartman
Simpsons (Super7) - Ultimates
Rated 4.80 stars by RMaster007
When Super7 announced they got the Simpsons license, I was excited, as was many others. The idea of a fully-articulated Simpsons line with tons of accessories was neat, but over time, some of the initial excitement died down when it became clear Super7 was focusing more on various characters than the main family, let alone in their regular outfits. They announced a while back that they would begin making the regular family beginning in wave five, but unfortunately, Disney pulled the license and dropped the company, cutting the line short and preventing the fans from getting what they really wanted. Aye carumba. On the brighter side, Super7 still had three waves they were able to release, with waves two and three out now, and wave four should be here soon. And more good news, Jakks...[See More]

Power
Chainsaw Man (Bandai) - S.H. Figuarts
Rated 4.95 stars by RMaster007
Even though both Good Smile and Tamashii Nations putting out Chainsaw Man products, the latter has clearly proved the better option for most. The S.H. Figuarts line has handled the designs better, with more articulation and somewhat better prices. I had the figma Denji/Chainsaw Man on pre-order before cancelling in favor of the Figuarts, but the figma Power I didn't bother with, since the Figuarts looked so much nicer. At least Good Smile's the only one doing an Aki figure right now. By default, Power bears a fitting sinister expression for someone as maniacal as her, with her crosshair-like pupils, sharp teeth, and horns giving away the fact that she's not human. Tamashii captured her look very well, with clean printing for the pupils and realistic wash for her hair, but the paint for...[See More]

Crystar
Marvel Legends - Infinite Series (Hasbro) - Void Series
Rated 5.00 stars by Karl T. Face
If you cherry-pick this line as severely as me, your choice this time is clear. Crystar is one of those oddballs that's eked by on guest appearances and miniseries for like 25 years. A sword-and-sorcery adventure filled with strong character arcs, fun designs, and a bit of a throwback feel even then. Our protagonist here was one of two princes, turned into mineral through various magics, and forbidden to ascend the throne until they stop trying to kill each other. I won't go into it all, but the story is great; it's just lousy with infodumping. Credit where it's due, Hasbro has delivered what I believe to be 100% new sculpt. And they did not skimp, covering every inch with multiple facets. The art in the comic wavers a tad, but this seems to be taken from one of the splash pages, with the...[See More]