Survival Suit Bruce Wayne
I’m not a fan of Mattel’s “Movie Master” line. These are the 5″ figures Philippine collectors could see warming the back shelves of many a toy stall in Greenhills. Their sculpts are okay and they have decent articulation, but the toys themselves lack any impact.
For one, they’re only 5″. While I’m not really one to get stuck on scale, I am a guy who doesn’t want a Gimli-sized Bruce Wayne next to his DCUC Green Arrow. I’d prefer a less diminutive Bale-Batman duking it out with my Marvel Legends Daredevil. I mean, sure, he’s Batman so he’ll still kick DD’s butt, but c’mon. At this size it looks like he squeaks frustratedly instead of growling hoarsely.
It doesn’t help that Mattel gives you no other reasons to buy their product. I bought a few of the Joker’s Thugs because they are very near 6″ and I could use them as a guy in a suit, but if you were to buy it on it’s own merits, the product is just… blah. What is a deliquent criminal without a few guns and a bag of money? The figure comes with neither. The presentation? This line has about the worst packaging I’ve seen on a line. It’s like those generic brands I used to buy at wholesale stores with my mom. We got this huge tub of peanut butter, like a gallon, in a big white plastic bucket that said “1 gallon Peanut Butter” and listed the ingredients. That’s what this card-backed bubble is basically.
The reason I picked up a second figure in the line, the Survival Suit Bruce Wayne, was because I figured I could use some of the parts as custom fodder (when I eventually get around to actually starting to customize figures, that is). The webgear especially caught my eye. It’s molded as a seperate piece, and while not technically removable, it looked very good.
I say “technically” because it can be done if you’re willing to do some cutting. The belts are all attached to a rubber disc shaped piece that is sandwiched between the torso and crotch at the waist joint. You don’t see it because of the molded belt. The rubber’s soft, so it’s a simple matter to carefully slip the blade in and work it around the circumference of the figure’s waist, cutting it away from that disc. You’ll also need to pry open the leg belts and the pieces at his back which are plugged in, but it’s fairly easy (hell, I’ve got barely any experience at this and I did it). I wouldn’t recommend it though if you’re planning on keeping the Bruce figure intact because it makes him all loose.
The following photos may be the best angle to show how short this figure is, but trust me, he’s too short to play with the other DCUC heroes. Since Hasbro hasn’t been too good about keeping its figures in scale, there are a few figures like Daredevil who don’t tower over him, but he’s still the one looking up at them. I’m a slave to my imagination sometimes and I’ve always seen Batman as this big imposing figure who LOOMS.
This figure can’t LOOM.
The second reason I bought the figure was the face sculpt. Having never seen the original unmasked Batman chase figure, I’d never seen this particular sculpt before. for something at this scale, it’s damned close to Christian Bale. The expression on Bruce’s face is probably enough to give Shane Hurlbut some awful Terminator flashbacks.
Survival Suit Bruce Wayne also has some decent articulation going for him. It’s not as much as a Marvel Legends figure (no double joints here), but its acceptable. More along the lines of the DC Universe Classics line with those combination swivels at the hip instead of ball and post joints. He also has hinge elbows, knees, and ankles, and a swivel waist, thighs, arms and wrists. His neck and shoulders are ball joints.
Unfortunately, there is a problem with his wrists which isn’t an isolated case. I got mine at a stall that was selling it loose (likely a factory reject) and I got the chance to go through several examples and they all had the same problem; a locked wrist joint. I don’t know if this is from stuck paint or melted plastic or what, but it’s very annoying. Up till now, I still can’t get one of his hands moving.
Another problem is paint. None of the examples I’ve seen had really good paint applications, but that was to be expected since they were rejects, but I’ve been reading other reviews who have had similar problems. If these defects are finding their way into the ones that have been packaged and shelved, I doubt that’s a good sign.
He did come with one accessory; a ski mask made of thin rubber. I’ll admit, it’s damned fun pulling it off and putting it back on like a proper thug, but it’s like any soft rubber toy. If it’s out for anything over an hour, it’ll collect about a pound of dust that you need to clean off. If you buy the thing at retail in the package, then you’ll get a larger version of the mask, I guess meant for a display or something. It’s a gimmick that the line offers, but the apparent consensus is that these add-ins are completely useless
Is he worth it?
I paid around Php500 the factory reject one, which is about $10.00 give or take, but I hear he retails at $15.00. Even at the price I bought him at, I wouldn’t have bought him except for my need for the web gear. I spent about 10 minutes at the stall, just fiddling with him trying to decide if I wanted to shell out for him.
He’s a great looking figure in my book, but his scale, the lack of accessories, and the awful quality control means that it’s probably not one people should consider buying. If you’ve got mad customizing skills like the guys at Loose Collector he might make for some nice fodder. If not, than give hime a pass.
X-men Origins: Wolverine with Jacket
I’ve got mixed feelings about the 3.75″ scale. While I loved Hasbro’s Gigantic Battles idea, there isn’t a lot of application of scale with the Marvel Universe series. We’re looking at wave 8 and 9 this year and so far we haven’t gotten any of those playsets or vehicles everyone was so hyped about when the line was first announced. We’ll get a 19″ Galactus later this year, but if they’re thinking 1 big figure every 5 waves, that’s pretty boring. Plus who can afford to drop the cash that thing will cost? We’re looking at another Millenium Falcon here. Plus quality has been an issue for these as much as it has been for every other line. For every Iron Man figure or Hawkeye we get a 2-pack Thor. The whole thing seems mostly miss as opposed to hit. According to Hasbro, when their people started the Universe series they were all used to the 6″ scale, so things were a little off. I’m guessing this is why we got the “big head” punisher and Daredevil. However, we still had “No-Neck Grey” in wave 6 at the end of last year.
Right along side the Marvel Universe line, we got another 3.75″ scale line to coincide with the Wolverine solo movie. “What?” you ask, “Wolverine? That was MONTHS ago!”. Sure it was. I never bought any of the figures because who wants to have 20 tiny wolverine figures in his collection?
The line retailed here for Php 500.00 or so, roughly $10.00. More than a GI Joe anyway. The only ones that anyone bought were the transluscent Iceman and the Cyclops with his Astonishing X-Men costume which were almost as hard to come by as a City Strike Snake Eyes. All those Wolverine and Sabertooths have been languishing on the pegs since the day they were shelved.
Let’s face it, the movie wasn’t that great from a fan perspective, and it wasn’t something that had a whole lot of appeal to kids. Who wanted a Wolverine in his lumberjack costume from the film, complete with an axe? or a Wolverine in a covert ops suit? The yellow and brown costumes might have sold if it was easier to find one with decent paint. The supporting characters were better, with the aforementioned X-Men, a Maverick, and a couple of comic Deadpools. Those were the ones that people bought.
As a collector, I think it would have been more succesful if Hasbro had focused more on the comic series rather than just have it as a filler. I mean he’s got a rogues gallery, too. How about a Patch figure? Or some Jim Lee Hand Ninjas? Reavers? Silver Samurai? Cyber even! Make ONE Wolverine figure (or two, one in movie, one in the comic costume), make it the DEFINITIVE Wolverine figure, repaint as needed, and then have the other characters as support.
But enough ranting. I did finally buy one of the single pack figures when they finally went on clearance, the “Wolverine with Jacket” from wave 3.
The thing that really saddens me about crappy toys is that they’ll eventually go on sale and the distributors, realizing that importing certain lines is a losing game, will stop importing it. This is usually right around the time when the toy company will get it’s act together and come out with something like the Colossus that is part of wave 4. Wonderful.
The “Wolverine with Jacket” is the more “movie accurate” figure from the line that I’ve seen. We’ve got the comic Wolvies and the Logan in a wifebeater, plus the Logan-with-cowboy-hat-and-jacket-on-a-motorcycle deluxe set that came out. This one has the jacket Hugh Jackman was wearing in the film and a vague (very vague - we’re talking barely there - but then it’s 3.75″ scale) likeness to the actor.
It’s a nice figure, and it comes with two accessories. A second pair of clawed hands. Nice, Hasbro. 2 pairs of clawed hands. Here’s your facepalm. One of the pairs is open in a sort relaxed pose, one with clenched fists that are turned inward (so he looks right when he’s doing that RAWR!!! pose he always does). The relaxed pair looks like it’s supposed to hold a gun, but… no gun. Besides, he’s Wolverine. He’s got claws. It would have been better if we got gesturing hands with the sheathed claws so he could be Ordinary-joe-Logan or a cigar smoking head. Wouldn’t that be nice.
But no. We got 2 pairs of clawed hands.
The reason I got this was so that I can upgrade my old Superhero Showdown Beserker Wolverine. I like the look of his head much better. Personally, I always thought of Logan (or “James” as he’s apparently named now) as an ugly, ornery cuss. I’ve got nothing against Jackman, I enjoyed quite a few of his movies, but let’s face it, he’s a pretty, pretty man. The old head looks much more like I imagine him in the comic.
Unfortunately, the socket of the old SHS toys is too small to accomodate the newer Universe and X-Men Origins: Wolverine figures, so it was a no go from the start. I don’t have a rotary sander so I couldn’t grind out the interior of the ball to make it fit.
Luckily though, I had the Astonishing Costume Wolverine from the 2-Pack with Colossus. That head is similar to the SHS one and I hated the hunchback sculpt of the figure anyway. I promptly swapped them out and voila! A nice new non-canon-but-oh-so-ugly-and-ornery-looking-Logan-with-Jacket.
If you’re thinking of going one further and removing the jacket to get a nice wifebeater Logan, too bad. The figure sports those sculpted sleeves that so many jacketed toys do these days. It looks a lot better than that premium cloth jacketed Wolverine, but it means you can’t take off the extra layer.
To sum up, if you see this one for the Php 250.00 clearance price, I’d suggest getting it. It’s a decent figure (ignore my rants), with some great articulation. The original head isn’t really bad at all, sort of a younger version. At 50% off, that’s a pretty good deal.
You’ll need to hurry though. Of all the pegwarmers that were out there when the sale hit, this one seems to be the one dissappearing the fastest.
Playmates T-1
I’m not a fan of toy manufacturer Playmates. If you read my previous reviews of toys from this toymaker like Terminator Endoskeletons, April O’Neil or Star Trek playsets, there’s a general theme that runs through them; inferior sculpts, general low quality and overly simplistic articulation. The only reason I bought any of the above toys was that they were all in the clearance bin at a tiny fraction of the price they were released at. I heard that when Plamates heard about the success that NECA had with their first set of TMNT figures they decided that they also wanted a piece of the pie and reissued the classic TMNT figures from the 80’s. This basically sums up all that’s wrong with the company.
The reason that NECA had such success was that their figures were UPDATES of the old toys with better sculpts, better articulation, and a ton of accessories. They were perfect for us old farts who remembered (and in some cases still had) the old toys. Collectors didn’t want to buy the old toys again. They were boring and stiff and overly cartoony. If they had re-released the battle wagon, that might have been a different matter. But they didn’t.
They made similar blunders with the Star Trek and Terminator: Salvation lines. Even if the argument here is that these are meant for kids, their overall low quality and boring presentation killed any chance they could have had of capturing a bigger slice of that market pie.
In the photo above you’ll see a selection of the figures Playmates offered in their 6″ line. You basically got figures that belonged in 80’s in terms of joints and sculpt. These toys would have looked right at home next to those re-issued Ninja Turtles. The sad thing is that this is the TERMINATOR franchise we are talking about. It isn’t that hard to put out great product when you have things like Arnold Schwarzenegger’s likeness to work with. The 6″ Terminator: Salvation figures offer no real improvement on sculpt or articulation from their 3.75″ counterparts, other than the fact that Marcus is unmasked here. But then it’s not a very good likeness either. The rest of the 6″ Terminators don’t get any better.
Which brings us to the T-1. According to the tiny insert card on the front, this is the first iteration of the terminator. Basically a Roomba with Gatling guns strapped to it. This toy makes it look just like that. It comes in pieces in the bubble, so “some assembly is required” (how many of you miss that line?).
Sadly, the 6″ T1 isn’t in scale with the other 6″ toys. If you’re pitting them against Joes or Marvel Universe Worlverine, great. Then he’s pretty imposing. Otherwise…
The toy has 4 points of articulation; horizontal swivels on the guns, another ratcheted swivel on the “waist” and a turning back (or front if you want to follow the product photography which looks utterly stupid) tread. wow. That’s pathetic. The least they could have given us was a vertical tilt to the guns.
And by the way, Playmates, why a RATCHETED waist joint? It’s not like that joint will become particularly loose, and even if it did, it would not affect the toy in any way. The thing lays flat on the ground for god sake. The joint doesn’t hold any weight so what was the thinking here?
Another point against is the guns. They connect to the “arms” by attaching to discs that hang beneath them. It works, but you see the disc jutting out from the arm. It’s smacks of a rushed, half-assed design. They could have easily designed this as a ball joint at this scale like any number of Transformers, kept the pop off safety feature to avoid breakage and still increased the mobility of the toys armaments.
Then there’s the abyssmal “mud” brushed onto the treads. It’s awful. Really. I would have preferred they just have left the plasticy gray.
Looking at this thing just aggravates the hell out of me.
So why did I buy him you ask?
Because he was only Php 100.00. That’s insane for a toy that isn’t some chinese knockoff or off brand figurine. That price forgives a lot.
Besides I can still use him as a generic bad robot for what ever 3.75″ figure happens to be decorating my desk at home. And hey, if worse comes to worse, Yoda can go to town.
EDIT 2/24/2010: I forgot to mention 2 things in the above review. Someone told me that the ratcheted joint is an action feature. If you roll the figure across a table, the top portion of the robot turns in a circle. Mine doesn’t work properly (so QA issue?) and the packaging didn’t say a thing about it, so still fail, Playmates.
The second thing was the “missle” launchers. Just like the Moto-Terminators, the front portion of the T-1’s gatling guns pop out of the barrel at the touch of a button. This is idiotic. Not only does this not look like a missle, it leaves the gun without that front portion. I’m sure kids might find it neat, but what happens when they lose the projectile? Or when they forget it’s there (the projectile is black, a bit darker then the rest of the toy) and shoot themselves in the eye? They would have been better off slinging a grenade launcher underneath somewhere with a few of those brightly colored missles all the other toy companies love.
I first read about Renaissance over at Comicology and was wondering what the event was supposed to be about. Bim’s updates really whet my appetite though, with lists of artists and writers that included just about everyone who was anyone in the Philippine comic scene.
Just look at this list of the artists who participated!
And all that is LOCAL talent. It’s awesome.
Myself, I only recently found out how long Pinoys have been in the comic field. Of course, having grown up in the States, one didn’t hear much about people like Alfredo Alcala who did things like Batman and Hellblazer or Adrian Gonzales who helped bring about He-Man. I found out that Philippine artists even had a hand in creating my favorite movie of all time, Transformers (the 1986 animated film NOT the Bay version, children). Rico Rival, one of the artists who was at the Mega Trade Hall on Sunday was a storyboard artist on the film (though unfortunately, he didn’t remember how to draw Optimus Prime any longer when I asked).
Sure Pinoys in the industry may be a little thing, but when you come from a country as small as the Philippines, with our ingrained defeatist attitudes, it’s great to know that there are role models for young kids just now starting to say “when I grow up I want to be…” I’d rather hear a kid finish that sentence with “… a comic book artist like Leinil Francis Yu!” than “… a politician like (insert present presidential candidate here).”
For those who don’t follow Comicology, Renaissance is the brainchild of Whilce Portacio, Philip Tan, and Ernest Hernandez of Hobbylink Productions. It was a charity event that was held to help artists who have fallen on tough times due to the recent flooding caused by Typhoon Ondoy. Aside from getting that amazing roster of artists in one place for book signing and sketches, the organizers put together a book of pinups created by the artists. Each piece shows a Filipino superhero/character fighting to save lives in the midst of the rains on the day of the deluge.
Here’s a sample of some of the art in the book:
The book itself was on sale at a launching price of Php 300.00. Even with the Php 100.00 entrance fee, the book was still cheaper than the price it’ll retail for (Php 500.00). It’s printed by Anvil Publishing and is pretty thick (though lightweight paper was used). It was pretty easy to get the whole thing signed by all the artists at the event if you were there at 1pm onwards. Even Michael V stopped in to say hi to fans who might want him to autograph his page. I decided against trying for the signatures since I knew if I had one, I’d need them all. I like most geeks, suffer from Completist Compulsion Conundrum or C3 as I call it.
Aside from the artists doing autographs and sketches (Php 50.00 each), there were some exhibitors from a few of the faces I usually see at conventions. Budjette Tan was there along with Kajo Baldisimo and Ian St. Maria to promote Alamat comics Trese and Skyworld (I bought more copies of both to get them signed, and conned a friend into buying them as well). Gerry Alanguilan and Komikero Publishing were there with copies of Where Bold Stars Go to Die (another great local comic) and Elmer. Manix Abrera was there with shirts and copies of his Kiko Machine books which were also available at the National Bookstore kiosk. Kalayaan and Bayan Knights and Beerkada, etc, etc.
There was also a great display for the late Alfredo P. Alcala. Like I said, I had very little knowledge of the kind of things Filipinos had done in the comic industry and this little wall made my day.
Also on display were the works of Halimaw Sculptures, The Art Department and Hobbymaster. I always love seeing the work that these guys do. If I had the extra cash lying around, god knows I would have bought that Hulk head from The Art Department a long time back.
There were also the comic and toy vendors that you’ll usually see at events, though they were fewer this time around. I didn’t see the big comic stores like Comic Quest or Comic Odyssey around, and only the only big toy dealer was 2Rats. I hear there were still some pretty good deals.
Early in the morning there was also a panel discussion about Pinoys in comics, though attendance was pretty poor. Probably would have gone off better if it was held later in the day. Bands were also playing, but again, not many people were paying attention to them.
The real draw of course was the artists. The artists table was where most of the people crowded around. You could buy “official” paper for an artist sketch for Php 50.00, but they could only do 10 each. They were also signing books though which was great.
Despite a slow start, I thought it was a great event. I hope to see more of these types of conventions in the future, as well as other collaborative efforts like the Renaissance book.
At the end of the day, this is what I brought home. 2 copies of the Renaissance book, A Kite of Stars by Dean Francis Alfar, Trese: the Mass Murders signed by Budjette Tan, Volumes 1 and 2 of Skyworld signed by Ian St. Maria, 2 other ashcans from the Alamat table, a Playmates T-1 for only Php 100.00 and various other toys from other people I met at the mall:
A pretty good day.
Planet of the Symbiotes: Riot
I reviewed one figure from Toy Biz’ Planet of the Symbiotes line, Venom: The Madness, the other day and I have to say I was really impressed with the work that they did on that one. I was never really a fan of the vintage (pre-Marvel Legends) Toy Biz even though those lines were on the toy shelves for a decade or more. Due to the limited articulation of action figures and the cartoonish sculpting of the time, I only have a few of the toys from that era. I got them mostly because they filled holes in my collection of Marvel Legends figures, like my Blink figure or my Madureira Colossus. Venom really changed my thoughts on the vintage Toy Biz run and from now on I’m going to keep an eye out at toy stores for more figures like him, ones that will fit into my 6″ collection.
When I borrowed Venom: The Madness from my friend, I also borrowed his other Planet of the Symbiotes figure, Riot.
He’s purple.
He’s got four arms.
He’s really tall.
That’s pretty much it. Like his buddy, I got this one loose from my friend. I’ve seen pictures of him MOC online which show how fragile the card must have been. I can see those J-hooks all ripped up, falling off the pegs now. This would have been all but impossible to find mint the way toys are handled here, but then again, I’d hate to keep this guy in a box.
Images from www.figurerealm.com
Out of the box is where this guy really shines. Like Venom, he’s very well sculpted with tons of detail that you’ll be hard pressed to find on a Marvel Legends figure these days. He’s sort of like a bug mixed with a lizard, mixed with a flying purple people eater. Or Barney.
Riot has a gimmick too, but I can’t say I like it as much as Venom’s. You can ignore Venom’s and when you display him, it doesn’t really affect anything. That’s sort of true for Riot as well, but the gimmick is a rocket launcher.
Now the spring-loaded rocket launcher has it’s place. It’s great on military themed toys like GI Joe, or Star Wars, or even Transformers, but it looks odd on biologicals. Remember that Mazinger Z cartoon with the girl robot that shot her breast at the enemy? Scarred for life.
Since his projectiles are his second pair of arms, they’re non-articulated and stick out of his torso right in front. They can’t grab anything. They look like they’re reaching out for a hug. It’s odd. And anyone who has a few of these knows how easy it is to lose the missiles.
Actually, losing the missles might be a good idea. It’s kind of fun getting a toy with a sword to cut them off (to activate the launch, you just have to move his other arms up or down) or have Spider Hulk tear them off just so:
If you can get him standing straight, with his legs extended (he’s got those chicken legs that are all the rage in the movie Transformer line now) he’s extremely tall. He towers over all the other toys on my desk at home. Take a look at this family portrait:
He’s a little fiddly though. Aside from the fact that his legs aren’t really sculpted to allow a great many poses, his joints apparently made to last. Granted the thing’s a decade old or more, but the the joints flop around like Elastic Man after a massage. He tends to just sink right down to the sitting on his haunches pose, which isn’t the most fun stance.
While I wouldn’t mind having this figure and maybe the red and black variant, I have to admit that it’s not as impressive as the Venom toy. The sculpt isn’t quite as great, with the bunny like horns, the tongue glued to his cheek, and the second pair of arms making sort of funny looking. Plus despite his size, he doesn’t have the imposing presence that Venom has on the shelf.
If you just want a generic bad guy/monster on your shelf, this thing fits the bill, but it’s not a must have. He never even appeared in the comic story arc.
If you're looking for biased, one-sided views of toys and other assorted geekery, then you're in the right place. If you want objective, you'll need a blog written by someone who isn't an obsessive geek.
These are my views on various toys, movies, places, and things, along with assorted pictures and the the occasional link to stuff I find sufficiently geeky.
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Slangards
I may give you a half-way serious answer.
