DC Direct: New Krypton means nice additions to the Superman Family Display

Having recently survived a move, there has been one upside to all the unpacking, and that's finally getting to open up and review some pre-move purchases that got packed away due to lack of time and space to deal with properly before the moving deed was done. DC Direct's Superman: New Krypton Series One was the last item I picked up in person from my fabulous LCS in Canberra before making the move to Melbourne, and I'm having a good look at them tonight.

Not much of my DC Direct Action Figure collection has remained in my display since DCUC came along. I'm still buying the never-been-done characters and others things that grab my attention, but not so much for display. The two main sets that I am still interested in maintaining on my shelves are my Superman Family and Batman Family groupings, because to date DCD has covered a much broader range of characters in these two groups. These figures are going to make a great addition to the Superman Family shelf!

Mon-El and Kal-El are my two lesser favourites in the set, but both have their place in a significant Superman story arc and thus a fitting place on my shelf. I have to rue the fact that Mon-El has the Superman "S" on his outfit, since that turned out to be such a flash in the pan. It's certainly interesting to have Kal-El in his Kryptonian Guild Gear, and the headsculpt on the figure actually looks Christopher Reeve-ish to me which is a plus. Mon-El's headsculpt bears quite a likeness to his representation in his Superman run. One odd thing is that both of these figures appear as though they've been done with a flesh-coloured plastic as opposed to having paint in that area. Not sure if that's the case, but it looks a bit like the kind of plastic made DCD's 13" Wonder Woman look so awful - well that was one of the things that made it so awful...

Superwoman is one of those frustrating DC Direct figures, in that it's often the Elseworlds or flash-in-the-pan type character that DCD seems to hit out of the park, while at the same time botching long-awaited classic characters. Taking the character for what it is, this is a great plastic representation. The buck here looks similar to the one used on the Superwoman and Batwoman Elseworlds figures from a few years back, which is one of the nicest female poses I've seen in the 6" scale. Looking at this really hits home how much I don't like the DC Universe Classic female buck. This is so nicely proportioned, and just needs ankle articulation to be pretty much perfect. The paint on this figure is fine, but I had to choose one that didn't have a smudge on the chest. It remains to be seen if much is going to become of this character, but I do like the design, and she makes a nice addition to the DCD Superman Family Display.

Last but certainly not least is the amazing job done on the Brainiac figure. This isn't my favourite version of Superman's green nemesis, but it is a comic accurate one and for what it is it's been done amazingly. This is great kind of figure for DCD to produce as it requires a bulk and sculpting that couldn't easily be achieved in a retail line, and they've done it very well. The sculpting is spot on, the paint work supports it well, and I love the pose - it's superior and menacing. Early contender for a Toy of the Year mention - well done! Oh that a Johnny Thunder or Bronze Age Captain Boomerang would ever get this kind of treatment from DCD some day!

One thing I have been very happy with in terms of DCD's efforts lately is the small, generic bases that have been used in their recent releases. They take up less room and don't become a feature in a display. They come in handy here for Superwoman and Mon-El, who both struggle to stand on their own due to their capes and the lack of ankle articulation - something I'd dearly love DCD to change.

As always with DCD, this set is a mixed bag of highs and lows, but overall I'm pretty happy with the results and very happy to have them to add to the DCD Superman collection. Next up from DCD in the action figure department, I'm looking forward to being able to add to my Aquaman family of figures with some of the BRIGHTEST DAY releases!

You can see more pics at Facebook, discuss this at the AFB Forum, and comment on this post for your chance to win the January AFB Comment of the Month Contest.

Until next time!

Asgard comes to AFB! Bowen Thor and Warriors Three Busts

While there are certainly companies out there that are producing great statues for slightly lower prices, I can't see myself giving up Bowen Designs Marvel busts and statues any time soon. Apart from the generally very high quality, the way in which Bowen's character selection presents the necessary amount of the big guns while at the same time mining the depth and breadth of the Marvel Universe is more than enough to keep me making mine Bowen!

A case in point: the recent release of the Warriors Three Mini-Bust Set. Thor's regular allies Volstagg, Fandral and Hogun are important characters to me, and I am sure many others, but hardly A-list characters in the wider scheme of things. The fact that we are seeing them in this form is a testament to Randy Bowen's interest in the broader MU - and I love that we're benefiting from it!

Volstagg is brilliantly executed and quite simply is pure fun. From the wonderful tassels on helmet to his voluminous belly to the playful glint in his eye, this is pure Volstagg all the way. An excellent sculpting job supported by perfect paints, and a piece that is going to immediately go on my list of favourite busts. Pure magic.

Fandral was based on Errol Flynn, and this bust certainly channels that feel and look. I really like the different tones and depths of green used in this piece. He's been sculpted with a sword - statues with swords always make me nervous, but particularly one like Fandral's which is pointing out at a right angle from the statue - the risk of snapping it off as it's moved. The one real improvement I'd like here is a more lively facial expression that really captures the glint in Fandral's eye. He's a beautifully done piece, but perhaps just missing that spark of life that would really bring the bust to life.

Hogun is as well sculpted as the rest of the set, but he's my least favourite of the three pieces. Firstly, he's positioned looking ever so slightly down, and this means that his face is overly shielded by the fur lining on his hat. I ideally want these busts on one of my lower shelves, but this means not really being able to see Hogun's face. Also, I've always seen Hogun as slightly bigger than Fandral, and the positioning of Hogun on a lower base makes it look the other way around. These issues don't actually take anything away from my enjoyment of the set, but there's a bit of a design choice and comic accuracy niggle here that takes a bit of getting used to. On the plus side, sculpt (apart from the angle) and paint are excellent, and he has his mace which offset's Fandral's sword nicely.

A band of sidekicks would be pretty useless without someone to sidekick, for, wouldn't they? Following on from the release of the Warriors Three set, two new Thor busts (classic and modern) have also been released. These have been sculpted by Randy Bowen himself. As much as I do like his new gear and chainmail costume elements, I decided on classic Thor because he fits in with my classic Avengers busts. I quite like the new costume, but since you never know how long such changes will last and the pose of both statues is the same, I decided that the original was best - and enough.

The musculature on Thor's arms seems a little strange to me. Maybe I'm just jealous! Overall, I am very impressed with the sculpting and painting work on this piece - especially the flowing cape - but a bit dubious on the pose of both arms out - simply because it limits display options when put alongside other busts. I'm going to need to get a little riser to put Thor on to make it work alongside his Asgardian friends.

The Bowen-related Asgard attention is far from over. As well as some new Thor and Loki full sized statues which are obviously going to be timed to tie in with the film, there are amazing looking busts of The Enchantress and Hela (Bowen Web Exclusive) also on the way. This is only going to serve to make the Asgard Bust section of my display even more amazing than it already is I'm pretty sure I'm going to have to track down the Odin Bust to try to keep them all in order!

You can see more pics at Facebook, discuss this at the AFB Forum, and comment on this post to enter the January AFB Comment of the Month Contest!

Until next time!

Will Changes to the Mattycollector Ordering Experience Help?

Mattycollector has announced changes to their ordering process starting with the upcoming sale on 18th January:

"Toy Fans,

We’ve heard your comments and have been working hard behind the scenes to identify areas where we can improve your purchase experience. There are several changes coming during 2011, starting with our January 18th sale when we’ll be adding CAPTCHA functionality to our website.

You’ve probably all already encountered CAPTCHA or something like it… it’s where you have to type in a word or two to prove you’re a human and not a computer before you can go to the next screen. For our website, what this does is stop automated “bots” from having multiple carts going for the same user just to see which one gets through first. Having all those open carts is both overloading the system and slowing genuine customers from placing real orders. (Fun Fact: CAPTCHA stands for Completely Automated Public Turing Test To Tell Computers and HumansApart.)

So starting on January 18th, when you get to the cart screen you’ll see this before you can place your order:

Just type in the words shown on the screen and you’ll be on your way. That’s it! Since the site won’t be clogged up with those evil bots, this should help you make purchases faster plus increase the stability of the system. As additional enhancements to the website are ready, we’ll announce them here, in our Forums, on Facebook, and onTwitter so keep an (unautomated) eye out for them!

— Matty"

This is great news if, and only if, it actually helps, which I guess we'll know on 18 January, which I suspect will be a busy sale due to the MOTUC Palace Guards not being included in a subscription. While Matty's post seems the imply they're getting rid of the "bots", they're not actually being stopped from trying to order, so what impact this actually has on traffic remains to be seen.

Hopefully one of the "additional enhancements" coming up is an actual shopping cart that holds your selected items for a period of time. This would seem a basic feature, and the lack of such security has caused a great deal of grief in orders past.

What do you think about what impact is going to have on your ordering experience?

AFB is Changing!

Hey All!

I am currently in the process of transferring the AFB site to a new and (hopefully improved) template, which means that the place may look even stranger than usual over the next few days!

To quote a great many customer service operators I've had the misfortune of dealing with lately, please "bear with me" while I make what I hope will be a change worth waiting for!

Cheers
Andy

AFB Presents: Starman's "Toys I Grew Up With - Blackstar!"

As we welcome the new year, I am very pleased to introduce the first ever guest review at AFB, in what is going to become a regular guest feature! My good friend Starman, or "Stars" as he calls himself, has been around the traps of various forums for a long time, and has now taken up residence at the AFB Forum as a regular contributor and moderator. Recently, he started a set of reviews of toy lines from the past which are in his personal collection. He's given these reviews the clever name of "Toys I Grew Up With", and it's been so popular it's claimed it's own little place on the forum! I felt these pieces were so interesting that they deserved a wider audience, and as such this new guest feature was born.

Stars' first "TIGUW" feature is based on the Blackstar toy line from the early 1980's. Make sure you click through to the link to the full pictorial review at the AFB Forum - Stars has an extensive collection with far too many pictures to post here! And now, over to our guest:

BIackstar! I love these things!!! The box art for the playsets and vehicles are beautiful!!

These figures were produced by Galoob from 1983 to 1985 and were released in three waves. Each "good guy" came with a Trobbit (the little pink guys) and the "bad guys" came with the greenish-yellow demon. Wave Two villains came with a rainbow of colors of that same demon, while Wave Three villains came with new demons in new molds.

Blackstar's dragon-steed Warlock also came in two different colors. The yellow one I'm showing here isn't mine. The one I own is solid green with a light patch running up his front. The green one also doesn't have a saddle, while the yellow one does.

What's weird is that although they are basically the same molds, the green one is smooth while the yellow one is scaled.

Starting from Wave Two, all of the figures had a flickering light-up gimmick. I've shown the Blackstar figure both with and without it. Eventually all of the Wave One figures were re-released with the flicker action except Mara.

Also of note is Klone, the Blue Elf. He came with removable arms and legs, which could be traded out and combined with a snap-on chest piece and tail, whereby he becomes Cloud Cat!

The photos in this article are just some of mine! Check out the "Toys I Grew Up With - BLACKSTAR!" thread at the AFB Forum for many, many more!

Enjoy!

Stars

(Andy's final note:) Feedback on this new feature is most welcome! Do check out all of Stars' amazing photos - it's a real treat!

Just as always, you can comment on this post to enter the AFB Comment of the Month Contest for January!

Start of Year AFB Business - Facebook, Twitter and Forum Links!

Just in case you're not aware of any of these things, the New Year seems as good a time as any to remind folks of the following:

You can "like" Action Figure Blues on Facebook by going to our page at: http://www.facebook.com/actionfigureblues

You can follow AFB on Twitter by going to our page at: http://twitter.com/afblues

And finally, you can get even more out of the AFB Experience by joining in with a great group of collectors and enthusiasts at the AFB Forum, which is located at: http://actionfigureblues.smfforfree.com

Take a moment to make sure you are linked up to all of these for an all-AFB, all the time internet experience! (Read that in a way that doesn't sound creepy or stalking-like, and that's what I mean!)

The Year in Review: AFB'S 2010 Toys of The Year Awards

Yet another year of collecting successes and disappointments has come to an end, but as has become a tradition, we can’t say a complete goodbye to 2010 until we’ve had the 2010 AFB Toys of the Year Awards. The toys listed below come from what I personally have bought / reviewed over the course of 2010, so it’s limited to my personal tastes and collection, but as I seem to have wide and eclectic tastes and like to give most lines at least a try, that leaves a lot to work with. Lets get the ball rolling!

The Under 6” Line of the Year: Hasbro’s Iron Man 3 ¾” Scale Line: If this was based solely on character selection, I’d still keep it in the Hasbro family but would probably go with the Secret Wars 3 ¾” line of two-packs, which was a great trip down memory lane, but the quality control on those figures was just too haphazard to give it the gong. Instead, I’m choosing the Iron Man Comic line, which not only has given us a great range of Shellhead’s armour in small scale, but some other fun characters as well, like Titanium Man, Crimson Dynamo and Mandarin. I’m hopeful that the movie tie-in lines for 2011’s Thor and Captain America films will have similar comic-based lines to make us collectors happy!

The 6” (or thereabouts) Male Figure of the Year: DC Universe Classics Wave 12 Iron Figure: This was a hard choice for me, as there were a number of figures I really loved this year, but I’ve chosen Iron for two reasons: first because he’s the first member of the amazing Metal Men to come to life in DCUC, and secondly (and most importantly for the purposes of this post) because he was done so damn well! Not only did the Four Horsemen give us some clever attachments to represent Iron’s powers (gotta love that wrench!), they also gave us a “metal” looking figure with a comic-accurate blue tinge! Brilliant. While Iron took the cape, I also thought DCUC Wave 11’s Steppenwolf (comic accurate version) and DC Direct’s Blackest Night Larfleeze figures were brilliantly done.

The 6” (or thereabouts) Female Figure of the Year: (tie) Masters of the Universe Adora and DC Direct Battle for the Cowl Batgirl: I really can’t separate these two fantastic figures. Adora is perfectly captured as a character by Mattel’s effort, while the Stephanie Brown version of Batgirl’s new costume gets a gloriously detailed debut in plastic which is happily in scale with DCD’s earlier Batman figures, creating display happiness. Totally different figures with one thing in common – they both show DCUC’s stick-armed females what happens when you eat a proper diet!

The Build-A-Figure of the Year: DC Universe Wave 13 Trigon: I’m delighted to see Ultra-Humanite and Validus in plastic form, and brilliantly done, and was surprised by how much I liked DCUC Wave 12’s Darkseid, but Trigon is the winner for me because he’s something totally different from what we’ve seen in other Collect and Connect figures in the DCUC line – a new sculpt which hopefully can be put to good use in the future. That cloth cape is just icing on the cake!

6” Wave of the Year: DC Universe Wave 12: Wave 12 didn’t just have the amazing Iron– it had a great range of characters without any obvious “anchor” that showed just what this line is about. It also had some real Golden Age / JSA love, and having Spectre and Doctor Mid-Nite in one wave, plus standout renditions of Eclipso and Copperhead all makes more than enough to make this the year’s favourite for me. Honourable mention: DCUC Wave 15– Validus, Starman, Jack Knight and OMAC made up the highlights of an almost equally awesome wave.

The Over 6” / Under 18” Figure of the Year: Marvel Select Abomination. Marvel Select’s star is really on the rise, and it was never shining brighter this year than when Abomination made his debut. This thing was not just heavy and huge, but still easy to pose, and this combined with his scaly skin and the sinister smile on the headsculpt made a truly outstanding piece. Marvel Select’s Thing and Mattel’s MOTUC Battle-Cat (not quite a figure, I know) were close seconds.

The Over 18” Figure of the Year: Marvel Universe Galactus. I did love DC Direct’s 13” Alan Scott figure, but there’s just no contest here. Galactus isn’t just huge and articulated – he lights up! Just an amazingly fun piece, and a perfect centre for a groovy Marvel Universe display!

The Bust / Mini-Bust of the Year: Bowen Designs Pyro Mini-Bust: Bowen had a cracker year, and got a good chunk of my collecting dollars. I loved their efforts with characters like Longshot and Arcade, but it was another supporting X-Character, Pyro, that took the cake for me this year. The amazing arc of flame is obviously an amazing feature, but it wouldn’t mean much without a fantastic likeness, which has been more than truly achieved. Honourable mentions would go to DC Direct’s Batigrl Bust from the Amanda Conner-inspired wave of the Women of the DC Universe series and the DC Direct Bizarro Bust from the Gary Frank-based wave of Heroes of the DC Universe– both very fun stuff!

The Statue(s) of the Year: Kotobukiya’s Fall of the Hulks Green Hulk and Red Hulk Statue Set: I was never a Hulk fan until the “Red Hulk” storyline drew me in, and when I saw this fantastic set I knew that it needed to be mine. Getting these huge pieces to Oz incurred a hefty shipping bill, but it was worth it – these were brilliant on their own and together they were just amazing. They’re sure to be prominently displayed in my collection for years to come.

The Statue (Series) of the Year: Kotobukiya’s Marvel Bishoujo Statue Series: I started off on this series with Rogue at the beginning of the year, and have enjoyed each subsequent purchase even more – Scarlet Witch, Psylocke and Phoenix are all brilliant and I’ll be reviewing Emma Frost shortly. Easily my favourite statue-based line to collect during 2010 – I just wish Koto had better Australian distribution to make it a bit easier! Honourable mentions go to DC Direct’s Batman Black and White and DC Dynamics Series.

And finally…. the WTF? Award for 2010 goes to: Mattel’s Public Enemies Series. This award normally seems reserved for poor old DC Direct, but to me, releasing these figures in an animated style and robbing collectors of comic accurate versions of Brimstone, Silver Banshee, Icicle and Major Force was the boneheaded move of the year. A boo and a hiss to Mattel for that one!

And that’s a wrap! Remember, this is just one person’s set of opinions – if you agree, disagree or want to post your own list, then visit the AFB Forum’s 2010 Toy of the Year Thread and have your say. Also, don’t forget you can comment on this post to enter the January AFB Comment of the Month Contest!

2010 was a good but busy year for me – I’m hoping to have more time to focus on my collecting and blogging in 2011, and am looking forward to the year ahead. Thanks for being a part of the AFB world this past year!

Until next time!

Happy New Year! The AFB Comment of the Month Contest for January 2011!

Wow, 2010 went by fast! I hope your holidays have been great and you have lots to look forward to in 2011! As for our contest, thanks to everyone who commented on last month’s blog posts! Congratulations to AFB Forum Member Polarboy for being our randomly selected winner and final comment contest winner for 2010! Once we hear from Polarboy, his choice of either the DC Universe Green Lantern Classics Series 1 Kyle Rayner figure or DC World's Greatest Superheroes Retro Series 3 Flash will be on the way when available from Mike’s Comics N’ Stuff.

Now to January’s Contest: on offer are two great prizes, either the DC Universe Classics Wave 16 Creeper figure from Mattel or the Marvel Select Deadpool figure from DST. Winning either would be a great start to the new year!

A few bits and pieces:

• every genuine comment on a post from the calendar month will be eligible for receiving the prize. I’m going to stick to my own time zone and call it at 23:59:59 Australian Eastern Standard Time – best to comment often and comment early!

• if my super scientific randomizer comment selector system chooses an Anonymous comment, I’ll skip it and go again – you need to leave a name, a link, your AFB Forum username or email addy so that I can contact you if you are the winner. Blogger comments allows you to do this, as long as your profile is not set to private – check your settings.


• you will be given a choice of one of the two figures on offer from the month’s contest – figures will be in their original packaging.


• figures will be sent by first class mail within the US (Mike is sending them, remember) and first class international to any overseas winner. An overseas winner can elect to chip in for Priority Mail or Insurance, but otherwise we can’t take any responsibility for a parcel that doesn’t arrive – after all this is coming out of AFB’s not dreadfully deep pockets!

Once again, thanks to Mike for making this all possible for us, and here’s to another happy month of commenting!

Until next time!

His and Hers Busts from DC Direct!

Before I can get to reviews of some of the great stuff I received for Christmas, I need to cover some of the backlog of items that built up as I was preparing to move. I'll make a bit of progress tonight by covering two recent mini-busts from DC Direct.

DC Direct has more issues with their action figure lines than I have ornaments on my Christmas tree (we have a very big tree), but one thing that I am consistently enjoying from them is their bust and statue output. Their Women of the DCU and Heroes of the DCU Mini Bust lines have been quite long-lived, especially when compared to the short attention spans DCD tends to dedicate to it's action figure series. Recent releases in each line have expanded the range of characters DCD has produced in bust form.

The Raven bust from the Women of the DC Universe Mini-Bust line is an interesting character to have Amanda Conner, the current designer for the series, do, as her art is a bit more cartoonish than the style in which we normally see Raven done, but it actually works quite well at this scale. This bust has been designed with a matching Titans Tower base to the Wonder Girl II Mini-Bust from the Terry Dodson series, and this makes them fit together well stylistically. The face sculpt on Raven is excellent, and her trademark hood overhangs her face as one would expect. The turn of her cape is quite different front the sketch - not sure if this was a packaging consideration or it was turned up so that she could show off more demon daughter booty. I trust it was the first...

A cautionary word about Raven's hood: as I discovered when I accidentally knocked the piece over right after taking this photo - it snaps off rather easily. Sigh...

On to something broken in a different way - I haven't been collecting any of the villains in the Heroes of the DC Universe Mini-Bust series, but for some reason I seem to have a weakness for Bizarro when it comes to collectibles. Gary Frank has captured a humorous aspect to Bizarro's character which really won me over. . Textures play an important part here, and they are all done very well - the wrinkled uniform, scaly skin, and slapped-on look of the backwards "S" symbol are all winners. The square earth base is also a touch of genius. All this plus the added removable "Bizarro No. 1" sign makes this a favourite piece on my shelves!

With a number of announcements for future releases already made, it's great to see both of these lines will continue strongly in 2011. I'll have pics and reviews of Sinestro (yep, I'm in with the villains now...) and Power Girl soon, and I'm very excited about Hawk and Dove next year!

You can see more pics of my DC Direct Women of the DCU Busts at Facebook here and Heroes of the DCU Busts here. You can also comment on this post at the AFB Forum, and of course comment on this post for your chance to win the AFB Comment of the Month Contest for December!

Until next time!

And to All, A Good Night!

From all of us, er.. well, me..... here at Action Figure Blues, here's hoping that whatever the magic of the holiday season means to you brings you happiness. For me, that's peace, love, happy times with family... and of course the accumulation of a large swag of Geekly Goods! I succeeded well in all of those departments today and will be looking forward to sharing the toy related goodies with you in the weeks ahead.

It's been a great year both for the blog and for the AFB Forum, punctuated at the end of the year by my move from Canberra to Melbourne which has taken me away from the more enjoyable aspects of life more than I'd like. Mrs AFB, the AFBettes and I are all settling in well to our new surrounds, and I'm looking forward to getting back to more regular posting - not just about addition to the AFB Collection, but also the moving and resetting of my display, which has been an experience in itself!

Even though I haven't gotten up to much posting this month, I'll still be giving away a December Comment Contest Prize, so be sure to add your Christmas Greetings to the comment section for a chance to win! Once again, the very best of holiday wishes to you. Stay tuned for my Christmas present gloating... er, reviews, and of course the Best of / Worst of for 2010!

Until next time!

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AFB is Alive and Kicking, and so is DC Direct's 13" Alan Scott!

First off, apologies for the long gaps between updates this month. I've just survived a huge interstate move, which means that from now on Action Figure Blues will be coming to you from Melbourne, Australia, instead of our national capital, Canberra, where I've lived for the last seven years. It's a welcome move and an exciting one, but there is obvously much to be done, not the least of which is the rather horrifying task of packing up the AFB Collection. I was "instructed" that I could only work on this task after the rest of the house was unpacked and settled (I love you Mrs AFB!) and this has been a great motivator to get things done. Tomorrow I begin the task of unboxing and reorganising, which I am approaching with equal parts excitement and dread. I'll get some photos up once it's done.

Thankfully, I do have a stockpile of items photographed and ready for review, and now that we have the internet connected to the new house (an ordeal of its own!) I'll be doing my best to try and get through them and to get back to bloggingl! First up is what, at present anyway, seems to be the last figure I'll be buying from DC Direct's 1:6 Scale / 13" line: Alan Scott Green Lantern.

Even at first glance, it was clear to me this was easily going to be one my favourite figures in the line. I was very pleased when this was solicited, partly for the love of the character, but also to see that the "Golden Age" Flash, Jay Garrick, wasn't going to be without a friend in this line. The choice to style them in the younger years was a great one as well - we have enough toys of the older Jay and Alan and it was great to see that they'd been captured in their prime at this scale.

There are elements of the DCD 13" male body that can stand out as weaknesses depending on the individual character's costume, the most significant of which are the thigh cuts which can be quite noticeable under some uniforms. There's alot happening with this figure, and the thigh cuts thankfully aren't a distraction here. As well as a busy colour scheme, there are a number of fabulously done costume elements, not to mention the truly fabulous headsculpt, that catch the eye instead.

Alan Scott's costume is a dream for this format, and it's been very well executed here. His puffy sleeves (for lack of a more technical term) are very well done, as are his boots with gold braid, but the real eye-catcher is the cape. This is by no means the first figure in the 13" line to have a cape, but this one has been given the deluxe treatment thanks to it's two colour design. The use of the two layers of fabric here gives it a nice thickness, and the great look is added to by the use of different types of fabric for the two sides, with the inner green side being done with a nice shiny textile

A fantastic touch is the light-up feature on Alan's lantern. I have green and other colour lanterns up the wazoo thanks to DCD's prolific production of them in many scales, so it's nice to have one with a difference. As you can see, it's quite bright for a toy and photographs well. There has also been an improvement in the design of the removable mask, which sits very snugly on GL's face and won't pop off like some of the earlier figures in the line (I'm looking at you, Robin). The only niggle I have is the same as the issue I had with the GA Flash figure, and that;s the belt. It's not fixed to any part of the uniform, and so it can ride up fairly easily to expose the seam between fabrics underneath. A small issue that in no way overshadows what truly is a brilliant feature.

The real shame here is that this seems, at the moment at least, to be the last dying gasp of this line, at least in terms of new characters, as all that seems to be coming are different Superman and Batman versions. If the line does stop here, and DCD certainly has the track record for it, it's missing some key characters like Hawkman, Red Tornado and Firestorm that I for one certainly imagined we'd see eventually. With some of the more recent efforts in the line having been less than stellar, I'd lost sight of that, but this fantastic piece is certainly one of, if not the, best we've seen. Here's hoping it's not going to live as a sad reminder of what could have been....

You can see more photos at Facebook, discuss this at the AFB Forum, and comment on this post to enter the December AFB Comment of the Month Contest!

Until next time!

It's an AFB Christmas! The December Comment of the Month Contest!

First off, thanks to everyone who commented on last month’s blog posts, and apologies that they were so few! AFB is about to move interstate and things have been nuttier than usual in the AFB household. Anyway, congratulations to DrNightmare for being our randomly selected winner! Dr N - your Blogger profile is private, so you can contact me through Facebook or the AFB Forum (Personal Message to "Andy"). Once we hear from our winner, his choices of either the either the Universal Monsters Retro Series 1 Frankenstein figure or Black Lantern Hawkgirl figure from DC Direct's Blackest Night Wave 6 will be on the way when available from Mike’s Comics N’ Stuff.

Now to December’s Contest: on offer are two great prizes, either the DC Universe Green Lantern Classics Series 1 Kyle Rayner figure or DC World's Greatest Superheroes Retro Series 3 Flash, both from Mattel. A nice green / red combo to fit with the Christmas theme!

A few bits and pieces:

• every genuine comment on a post from the calendar month will be eligible for receiving the prize. I’m going to stick to my own time zone and call it at 23:59:59 Australian Eastern Standard Time – best to comment often and comment early!

• if my super scientific randomizer comment selector system chooses an Anonymous comment, I’ll skip it and go again – you need to leave a name, a link, your AFB Forum username or email addy so that I can contact you if you are the winner. Blogger comments allows you to do this, as long as your profile is not set to private – check your settings.
  
  
• you will be given a choice of one of the two figures on offer from the month’s contest – figures will be in their original packaging.

• figures will be sent by first class mail within the US (Mike is sending them, remember) and first class international to any overseas winner. An overseas winner can elect to chip in for Priority Mail or Insurance, but otherwise we can’t take any responsibility for a parcel that doesn’t arrive – after all this is coming out of AFB’s not dreadfully deep pockets!

Once again, thanks to Mike for making this all possible for us, and here’s to another happy month of commenting!

Until next time!

.....and your little Monkey too!

After finally getting my reviews for Count Marzo and Whiplash up a little while ago, and having photographed the subjects of tonight's review, I was priding myself on finally being only one month behind on posting my items from Mattel's Masters of the Universe Classics line, and then Roboto arrived from his sojourn across the seas..... drat!

Well, in the spirit of better late than never, I'm getting September's MOTUC items posted - after all, this humble blog has never been about breaking news, just my humble collection! Good thing, eh?

The big deal in MOTUC land for September, and I do mean big, was the mega-monkey bad guy, Gygor. I knew this fella was going to be oversized, but I really had no idea just how oversized! I suppose because he looks very similar to Gorilla Grodd from DC Universe Classics, I was expecting something of the same size, but Gygor is much bigger. He stands well above the average MOTUC male figure. Makes for some great fight scenes if you're skilled at posing your figures - something I'd never personally claim to be great at.

Gygor's rather bright yellow and green colour scheme is tempered somewhat by an impressive range of black body armour. He has a highly detailed helmet, a harness, large forearm pads and smaller ankle...things. All good additions, and his excellent axe is a great weapon, perfect for swinging around at unsuspecting victims. Of course, it's usually much harder to swing an axe if you don't have a head, so I was a tad distressed when I tried to adjust what I thought was a loose helmet and instead found Gygor's head loose from his body. It took a bit of effort to get it firmly back in place but thankfully it was accomplished in the end!

Much like Tytus, Mattel has kept the price point low on this larger figure by using limited articulation, but I don't really see that the final product suffers terribly from it. Aforementioned pop-off head issue aside, the only real issue is getting Gygor to stand firm when raising one of his awesome axe over his head - he can topple backwards if the correct angle isn't used, but I found the correct position of his other arm for counterbalance fixed this. All up - a very enjoyable figure that adds a great deal to the MOTUC landscape - and one I'm very glad to have on my shelves.

Also out in the same month was the September Subscription figure, Chief Carnivus. Much like Count Marzo, Carnivus is a character that is beyond the reaches of my Masters of the Universe knowledge, but is a very fun addition to the overall collection nonetheless. Also like Marzo, Carnivus has more an animated look, which doesn't bother me, although they probably do look a bit out of place next to some of the other figures.

Carnivus has received some pretty special treatment in both the sculpt and accessories department. He has sculpted fur, paws with claws, a cape and great golden armour. Add to this his great set of weapons - matching sword and shield - and this guy's very well set up! Carnivus won't make it to the front of my MOTUC display simply because he's not one of the characters I know well (er... at all..) from the series, but in terms of look and quality, he's definitely ahead of the pack. (Badoom tish!)

All up -great additions to the line, with Gygor obviously a favourite - as long as he keeps his head! Now, I just need to make sure I get Roboto's review up before Grizzlor makes his way to sunny Oz, and I'll finally be out from under my MOTUC overflow!

You can see more pics of my MOTUC Collection at Facebook, discuss this at the AFB Forum, and comment on this post to enter the November AFB Comment of the Month Contest.

Until next time!

Marvel Universe Wave 10 is in!

Following on from looking at the biggest figure in the Marvel Universe series, the mega-big Galactus, I'm having a look this evening at the latest figures from the normal waves of Hasbro's 3 3/4" Marvel line. I generally don't buy the Iron Man / Wolverine / Spiderman variants that tend to come with each wave, just the characters new to the line, so from Wave 10 I bought Captain Britain, Multiple Man, Mystique and Ghost Rider.

Captain Britain is a favourite character of mine and one I'm happy to see in the line. The only niggle here is the way in which the gray wash that's been used on the white areas of CB's uniform has accumulated in a few places, particularly on his gloves. It's just a little distraction, and I do understand that a wash on a white section looks better than just plain white. Otherwise, the paintwork on this small figure is great - nice clean lines, and all stripes well applied and executed. I'd love to see some of CB's other costumes as variants later on in the line, as this helmeted version is the main one we've seen toy-wise.

I currently only own one Multiple Man but I will surely be hoping to get more to build up a bit of a Jamie Madrox army. This is an early costume, and I'm certainly hoping for variants here - Classic and Modern X-Factor are both musts for a well-rounded X-Collection! The rather simple design here is complimented by metallic gold paint which is applied in nice clean lines. The face on this figure has come out very well for the scale. A great figure to have, but I am keen for the modern versions of the character!

Mystique is a welcome addition to the line, which is short on female villains, and she's also one of the better female figures in the line overall. Some of the heads on the female figures haven't come out particularly well paintwise, but this one is pretty flawless. One of the things I don't like on some of the MU females are the breasts, which are a just a tad too big - something that is really noticeable on this figure with the white paint in this area. They look more like little golf balls glued on than something that naturally belongs there. That aside, this is a great figure - her skull belt and her sash are well crafted and paint is very solid all around. I'm not quite sure she needed the big bazooka, but it'll be fun for someone to use if not her.

Ghost Rider is the clear winner for me in this wave. His flaming head is well designed, and I love the bit of a smirk that comes through in his facial "expression" - pretty cleverly done! The detail of sculpting on his uniform is excellent and gives a great sense of texture. His fiery chain is a great accessory, and unlike some of these types of add-ins, he can actually grasp it easily so it's a practical winner as well as an aesthetic one.

From what I understand, the different Marvel Universe Waves / Two-Packs are produced at more than one factory, and there seems to be a sliding range of quality between the different producers. These seem to be from one of the "good' factories - overall quality control and paint apps are very good. All this makes this a great set, and great additions to the Marvel Universe line!

You can see more pics of these and other Marvel Universe figures at Facebook, discuss this at the AFB Forum, and comment on this post to enter the November AFB Comment of the Month Contest!

Until next time!

The AFB Comment of the Month Contest - November 2010!

First off, thanks to everyone who commented on last month’s blog posts. It was my birthday month, and in the spirit of giving there were two prizes on offer! Congratulations to blog commenter Super-Duper ToyBox and AFB Facebook fan Olivier Fritsch for being our randomly selected winners! Gentlemen - you can contact me through Facebook or the AFB Forum (Personal Message to "Andy"). Once we hear from our winners, their choices of either the Ted Knight or Jack Knight Starman figures from DC Universe Classics Wave 15 will be on the way when available from Mike’s Comics N’ Stuff.

Now to November’s Contest: on offer are two great prizes, either the Universal Monsters Retro Series 1 Frankenstein figure or Black Lantern Hawkgirl figure from DC Direct's Blackest Night Wave 6. These would have been great figures for the Halloween month, but since I couldn't find any turkey action figures for Thanksgiving, they'll do for November!

A few bits and pieces:

• every genuine comment on a post from the calendar month will be eligible for receiving the prize. I’m going to stick to my own time zone and call it at 23:59:59 Australian Eastern Standard Time – best to comment often and comment early!
  

• if my super scientific randomizer comment selector system chooses an Anonymous comment, I’ll skip it and go again – you need to leave a name, a link, your AFB Forum username or email addy so that I can contact you if you are the winner. Blogger comments allows you to do this, as long as your profile is not set to private – check your settings.


• you will be given a choice of one of the two figures on offer from the month’s contest – figures will be in their original packaging.

• figures will be sent by first class mail within the US (Mike is sending them, remember) and first class international to any overseas winner. An overseas winner can elect to chip in for Priority Mail or Insurance, but otherwise we can’t take any responsibility for a parcel that doesn’t arrive – after all this is coming out of AFB’s not dreadfully deep pockets!
  

Once again, thanks to Mike for making this all possible for us, and here’s to another happy month of commenting!

Until next time!

Beware Earth: Galactus Inbound!

From the small scale figures of JLU, I'm moving on tonight to something right on the other end - that being the Marvel Universe Galactus figure from Hasbro, which is currently consuming the universe that is my toy display room!

This is the SDCC Exclusive version, not the current release that comes with Silver Surfer, and it has quite a story to its purchase and arrival before I even get to looking at the figure!

I was quite happy to wait for the eventual retail release of this and work out how to get it to Oz, but then I saw one of the SDCC versions unnoticed and unloved on eBay with very reasonable international shipping, and I certainly wasn't about to displease the devourer of worlds by allowing him to go unsold! I was pretty happy with my find, but it was too early to celebrate. The seller contacted me a few days later to say he wasn't sure he could get the large box the exclusive came in through the post due to its height, but would try to work it out. I have to give full credit to this fantastic seller - he really tried hard to make it work and stick to the price he had quoted. In the end Galactus made his way to our shores with the SDCC box wrapped in layers of gift paper to try to keep it safe but keep the box within the size that could be posted. A stellar effort!

As for the figure itself - it's one thing to know a toy is going to be big, and another to really appreciate it! He's a 19" figure that comes in a packaging that is the same as the regular MU figures, just proportionally bigger (read: huge!! - have a look in the Facebook album for photos and comparisons). On one level, I really regretted having to open him up, but this definitely isn't the kind of figure that you buy an extra of to keep one carded!

This is a really fun thing to own, but it's also an amazing piece. The level of detail on Galactus' costume is just unbelievable. There's very intricate sculpting here, lots of edges and ridges. His headdress is amazing and suitably impressive in size. The only thing I'm not totally grabbed by here is how much of his face is covered by his mask. I'm used to seeing a bit more of his cheeks etc - the amount covered here makes his face look a little disproportionately small in relation to his head.

Despite the size of the overall figure, articulation hasn't been compromised. Galactus balances well and can be put in quite a number of standing and action poses. All joints move freely but aren't loose, making it easy for him to hold poses like grasping a smaller figure, etc.

I haven't put in batteries yet to try the light up features. AFB and family are moving in December and I'll probably wait until that is done. It looks like I need to move his shoulder harness to put them in. It'll be fun, but not what I bought him for so I'm happy to be patient.

The only shame here is that at the moment I've had to put Galactus on a shelf with larger statues as I don't have the space to put my Marvel Universe figures with him. I guess that means that once we relocate I need a bit more display space, right? Bring it on, and some similarly scaled MU figures to complement the assortment certainly wouldn't go astray either!

You can see more pics at Facebook, discuss this at the AFB Forum, and comment on this post to enter the October AFB Comment of the Month Contest - with an extra chance this month for an AFB Facebook fan!

Until next time!

A JLU find in Oz!

This probably doesn't seem like a big deal to AFB readers Stateside, but actually being able to find and buy action figures at retail has become such a novelty here I had to post about it. After a tip-off from AFB Forum member NiteOwl, I made a detour from my normal Sunday shopping to check out my local Kmart, which is in a mall I've been avoiding as it's a construction nightmare at the moment. It's also been so long since my once common toy-run through all the possible shops netted anything, I've really fallen out of the habit.

Happily, my trip was not in vain - just as NiteOwl had found in his local Kmart, mine had the latest (or one of the latest) wave of Justice League Unlimited singles: OMAC, Ultraman and a show-accurate Red Tornado, which I bought, and Captain Atom and Red / Blue Superman, which I left on the pegs for another happy hunter.

JLU is a line I have tried to quit at least half a dozen times, primarily because of the lack of a local release here for some time. Things like the Mattycollector exclusive packs and characters like General Eiling and Amanda Waller have kept me hooked, however, and I'm looking forward to the Mattycollector JLU Parademons coming up shortly, so I was keen to have new characters to line (for me) OMAC and Ultraman, and a Red Tornado that looks more like the unique look he has on the show. Plus, I really can't underplay the chance to actually buy a toy a retail as a factor in deciding to buy!

There's nothing groundbreaking about any of these figures - the standard JLU buck is used in all three, but OMAC has some extra sculpting for his fin-head, and he also has an arm attachment that connects to his left arm in much the same way the the Metal Men extension pieces snap on in DCUC, although not quite as snug. Ultraman has a disc-y sort of belt sculpted on, and similar discs on his forearms, which are a bit lost as they're placed at the back. Ultraman also comes with the standard strong-person bent piece of steel, which he can't possibly grasp, so that's a bit of a fail. Paint is great on all three, but I was glad a had a choice for Red Tornado as the one I got was the only one that didn't have a paint blip on his chest emblem.

Taking these out of the package, I was reminded of the other reason I've been tempted to quit this line, and the reason I don't currently have JLU on display: these little guys are such a bugger to stand up! The Mattel JLU bases are also way too big to display a wide number of them. That's not news though, and I guess most collectors have found their ways around it by this point!

Again, not necessarily post-worthy on their own, but these make news for me simply because they actually hit the shelves here - so here's hoping it's the start of a trend!

You can discuss this at the AFB Forum and comment on this post to enter the October AFB Comment of the Month Contest - with an extra prize for an AFB Facebook fan this month!

Until next time!

A Great Pair of X-Villain Busts from Bowen Designs

Carrying on with the trend of pairs of items, I'm looking tonight at two of the most recent mini-busts from Bowen Designs: Pyro and Arcade.

These two X-Men Villains are the kinds of characters that I've come to really appreciate Bowen for making. To me, they're important X-Men villains, but in the scheme of things they're probably not significant enough to be the focus of that many collectables. Randy Bowen and co. certainly know their Marvel Universe, and they've been doing a fantastic job of covering it throughout the life of their Marvel licence.

Pyro is immediately a visually impressive bust due to the arc of flames shooting above his head, but that's not his only attribute - it's an excellent bust in all respects. There's alot of excellent sculpting here, from his flowing hair to his flame-thrower backpack to the flames in the arc and also the section between his torso and the base. The flames are slightly translucent and made of a light but sturdy material.

There are a number of colours here on the yellow / orange / red spectrum. but the paint work is excellent and the finish isn't at all garish. I've mentioned before that I really like the mixing of different materials in these pieces, and the tubing attached to Pyro's flamethrowers are a big win in this category.

This is a very tall bust due to the height of Pyro's flames - you can see a comparison pic in the Facebook album linked at the bottom of this post. This makes it quite a standout amongst all of the Bowen busts. It's all one piece too - no assembly required, so expect a big box. It really is an impressive piece, and it's getting a revisit in terms of a First Appearance Variant which is being done as an exclusive to the Statuemarvels website - worth checking out! (You must be a registered member of Statuemarvels to order).

Arcade is one of those kinds of characters that I've come to really appreciate Bowen for making. He's a iconic X-Men villain, but as a plain-clothed non-powered sort he's unlikely to be the focus of many collectables. Randy Bowen and co. certainly know their Marvel Universe, and they've been doing a fantastic job of covering it.

The design concept here is sound, and there are some nice touches, like the flow of his open jacket, the ribbing on his shirt, and the dice he's holding in his outstretched hand. There was something bugging me about the head on this piece, however, and when I did some searching of classic Arcade pics I saw what it was - he was drawn with a fuller face, slightly longer hair and no freckles. This version certainly looks and works well, and I'd imagine it must have a comic base somewhere as I know Bowen does a lot of work on source pics etc, but it doesn't scream classic Arcade to me.

Headsculpt aside, there's a couple of issues with this bust that take a bit of the shine off of the pleasure of getting such an oddball character choice. The first is an issue that is going to crop up when I post about the Modern Emma Frost Statue, and that is the "white" isn't really white. There's an almost bluish wash over it, and with so many other colours already at play with his tie and shirt, it's a tad hectic.

The second niggle is the red stars on the base. Going back to the promo shots now I see the clearly, but I never noticed them until I had the bust in hand. There's just so much happening colour-wise already with this piece that I don't think they were necessary, and they seem to fight with everything else that's happening here.

All up, I guess we have one my favourite and one of my least favourite Bowen busts in the same review. Shame about Arcade, but he's definitely a character I'm more than happy to have in my collection, but Pyro more than makes up for any disappointment.

You can see more pics (and pics of all of my Bowen busts) at Facebook, discuss this at the AFB Forum, and comment on this post to enter the October AFB Comment of the Month Contest - with an extra prize for an AFB Facebook fan this month!

Until next time!