The AFB Podcast Episode 225: Play Arts Kai Rorschach / SH Figuarts Kamen Rider Specter / DC Collectibles Babs Tarr Batgirl Statue

Episode 225 of the AFB Podcast is live at iTunes and is now available for direct download! Download and subscribe to the podcast at iTunes now! 

This week, join John, Justin, Ben, and Scott for a great new show packed full of toy fun!

This week, our Toys of the Week are:

• Play Arts Kai Rorschach 
• SH Figuarts Kamen Rider Specter
• DC Collectibles Babs Tarr Batgirl Statue

If you don't use iTunes, you can download Episode 225 here now! Click on the link to listen, or right click to save the file! The podcast will always be available from the “Podcast” tab here - but if you can subscribe and give us positive ratings at iTunes, that will help us greatly! 

The AFB Podcast is also on Stitcher Radio!

Have a listen, and please give us some feedback at podcast@actionfigureblues.com - we might even read out your feedback on the next show!

Happy listening!

News covered in this episode:

1. Jada Toys Die-cast metals
2. Mattel - Final list of Matty SDCC exclusives
3. S.H.Figuarts TMNT “Raphael” and “Michaelangelo” figures
4. Hasbro Transformers/GI Joe SDCC exclusive
5. Tamashii Nations Toy Story Chogokin Giant Robot
6. Entertainment Earth Exclusive 1:12 Collective “Space Ghost” (glow in the dark)
7. Mezco 1:12 collective Previews Exclusive “Commander Rogers” figure Mezco
8. Con Exclusives including Classic Captain America One:12 Collective
9. Kotobukiya Amazing Spider-Man ArtFX Statue
10. Kotobukiya Super Powers Hawkman ArtFX
11. Sideshow Collectibles “Voltron” Maquette
12. Quarantine Studios “Death Becomes Her” statue
13. NECA “Deadpool” ¼ action figure
14. NECA Rocky “Apollo Creed” action figure

And the Doctor makes the team!

I picked up Dr Manhattan and The Comedian (non-variant) from DC Direct’s Watchmen Series this week, following up on Series One from a couple weeks ago, and I am very glad I did, because to me these two make the series.

Dr Manhattan is, to me, one of DCD’s best male figures in quite a while, both for the effectiveness of the sculpt and the extra features. The good Dr comes with two sets of legs – one articulated set for free standing poses and one sculpted set for his floating pose, which locks in to a floaty thing that locks into the base.The legs interchange easily at the torso. This is a great design – no holes in back of the figure and the owner has a choice of how they want to display it – floaty option for me of course.

The Comedian is a great figure, although along with the Rorschach figure, this isn’t worth a variant for what should have been an extra head, and I certainly won’t be buying it. This figure  gets extra points with me because it comes with something I’ve been wishing toy companies would do for years – index figures that actually fit in to the triggers of his guns to make sure he can hold on to them robustly. How novel! His uniform is very well detailed and sculpted – Tim Bruckner is responsible for both of these.

I’ll be staying away from the early versions of Nite-Owl and Silk Spectre because they’re a bit pointless unless they make more early Watchmen versions, but I do have to say they looked quite well done. I may cave on them when I see them on sale (which I expect to see eventually).

The group shot says it all for me – a great effort DCD. Now bring on the movie!

You can see a wider range of shots including close-ups at Facebook and discuss this in the Watchmen thread at the AFB Forum.

Um…. was anyone watching the Watchmen?

I wasn’t planning on doing an out of the box review of DC Direct Watchmen Series 1 because it took a long time to get around to it, but now that I’ve finally unpacked them I thought I needed to point something out.

Brothers and sisters, that Rorschach is teeeeeny tiiiiiiiiny. And it might be a Tim Bruckner sculpt, but it’s a mess and three quarters. His legs are basically fixed in a weird stance, he can barely stand on his own, his head is cocked to one side, he… he…. well let’s just say, lots of frowns.

The rest of the figures get a pass from me. Nite Owl is actually a great figure, but he and Rorschach look like they come from different planets. Silk Spectre looks like she’s stepped straight out of the pages of the graphic novel, and it’s a BVP female figure I can see customisers loving, but again a bit tiny. She and Rorschach are Bruckner sculpts, while Nite Owl and Ozymandias are by Jack Matthews. Those guys needed to have a bit more of a confab, methinks. Or, is it possible that the smaller two are actually  the original DCD figures solicited so long ago while the other two are new sculpts to fit the film? I’d need photos to compare.

On his own Nite Owl is the winner of the bunch. Great detail on the costume, great stance. Makes me look forward to seeing him in the film. Ozymandias is the opposite. Hope Veidt doesn’t spend too much time in that getup in the film. As a figure, however, he’s well done.

Paint-wise these are perfect. If we could give DCD’s distribution, detail and (usual) paint apps to DCUC’s character selection and (usual) scale, well let’s say I could almost die happy. They each come with bases that join together to make a wider display. No instructions of course, and the foot peg hole insert things have be stuck in the bottom of the bases and don’t really stick. Thank God my eight year old could work out how to do it. Unfortunately even between the two of us we couldn’t get Rorschach’s “removable” hand to put on his hand than can ho ld his gun. Maybe I get too afraid of breaking these things but I really did try, and so did Miss 8!

Anyhoo, I just had to decry this 6” travesty to such a long-awaited character. Ironic that just like the lacklustre DCUC Big Barda, DCD is doing an “unmasked variant” of this sculpted stinkeroo. Well, at least I didn’t preorder that one! I am now fully expecting Dr Manhattan and The Comedian in 8” scale just to compliment this crowd.

Oh, and maybe a pack-in of the kid from the newsstand in 1:2 scale. That would make as much sense as this.

More pics including closeups at Facebook .

The Watchmen Arriveth!

I’m not unboxing these quite yet, simply because I’m not sure if I’m going to keep them, so just a quick pix and post.

What I can see without unpacking: Rorschach is short. I know he’s supposed to be a bit smaller than the rest, but he really looks diminutive in the box. Not just shorter, but on a smaller scale altogether. Not sure if that is going to work for me. I’m also a bit cheesed off about the “unmasked variant” for this character, when really it should have been a packed-in extra head. I like the character enough to buy both IF the figure is good enough, but I can’t see buying two of these.

The detail on the costumes is excellent. Nite-Owl is my clear favourite. The Ozymandias figure makes me think I might not be liking the film interpretation so much. Silk Spectre looks great – a really faithful comic book interpretation.

The packaging is really nice – I was expecting the modern clamshell DCD seems to moving towards, so getting the classy boxes for these, with great design work, is a really nice bonus.

I’m not going to get the older versions of the characters, so only planning on getting Dr Manhattan and the Comedian from future waves, and I may wait until I see them to decide if the series is worth opening up. It’s the Rorschach scale thing that’s killing me here…..