Toy Review: Firefly vs. GI Joe Troopers

08/20/09

Firefly vs. GI Joe Troopers

After getting the Hall of Heroes Firefly, I got that urge that I get when I find a character or line that is just so immutably cool. I simply had to get other toys that depicted the Cobra Sabotuer, with his masked face, mean eyes, compact guns, and explosive equipment. I’m sure many of you can relate and I think this kind of urge to splurge on what is essentially the same toy is borderline obsessive-compulsive behavior. I’m sure in some other quantum universe, I’ve been arrested for stalking Angel Locsin, or running naked through the streets covered in lime green Jello singing “Eye of the Tiger”. In this reality, thankfully, most of my energy is focused on the toys.

There aren’t as many versions of the character as there are of Snake Eyes (which is fortunate for my wallet), though he is one tough bastard to find. Remember the old Sigma 6 line? The Cobra Firefly figure was the most sought after toy in that line, and is now fetching upwards of 3500.00 Php online easy. Of the 25th Anniversary versions, I’ve only seen the Wave 3 figure a few times in Toys “R” Us in Galleria, the Wave 13 blue version once during a toy launch and I NEVER seen the Wave 4 Comic 2-pack with Storm Shadow. The version I’m reviewing today comes in an exclusive boxset that dissappeared pretty fast from shelves once everyone was finished with Rise of Cobra mania.

The Toys “R” Us exclusive G.I. Joe Troop Builder boxset, Firefly vs G.I. Joe Troopers,is pretty good value for your money. Usually these exclusives cost a pretty penny, considering the lengths distributors go to bring them into the country. Luckily, it looks like Toys “R” Us doesn’t have any mark up when it comes to importing things for their own store. This one cost me 1,500.00 Php so roughly 300.00 Php per figure. That is about 50.00 Php cheaper than the retail price for a single 25th Anniversary figure.

You’ll also see that Hasbro tried something a little different with the pacakging this time, a precursor to what they did with the Rescue Mission boxset in the ROC line. Firefly and the Joes are all posed in a freeze frame of the action. Granted the poses are kind of goofy, but it’s definitely a nice touch, especially for Mint in Box collectors.

On top of that, this set is meant especially for the guys who wan to build a true army of G.I Joes to face of against their armies of Vipers or Crimson Guard Commandos. You can’t really pick any of the existing Joes to act as the extras in your little skits, since so many of them are so individual. There are no uniforms apparently in Joeverse. Yes you could swap heads to make a new character, but let’s face it, there’s nothing that says “army” more than guys in identical green shirts.

I guess Joe’s Green Shirts are a take on Star Trek’s “Red Shirts”, who often act as cannon fodder, getting shot in the first reel to demonstrate the power of the big bad. Since both Cobra and Joe troopers alike are graduates of the infamous Vogon Sniper Academy, that kind of invalidates their existence. These guys couldn’t hit a brick wall if they were standing with their noses pressed against it.

To tell the truth, I bought this set for Firefly more than the troopers. Their design is pretty basic, a green shirt with sleeves rolled up,camo fatigues and boots. There is a knife sheath sculpted into their right leg. There are 4 different head sculpts. I’m sure they all belong to previous toys, but since my collection isn’t too big, I couldn’t tell you which. One is a redhead, one blond, one with black hair, and one with brown. The blond’s head is noticebly bigger, though Hasbro’s planned ahead and provided a helmet that will fit his planet sized noggin.

There’s a whole bunch of other accessories for each green shirt. All of them have the same thing; rifle, helmet, knife, pistol, and web gear harness. The harness and pistol are by far the best of the toys they get. It fits all of them perfectly, and if you have any other figures that don’t have sculpted belts, they go well with them as well. I’ve taken one and put it on one of the plainer looking Snake Eyes figures and it looks great. Too bad it doesn’t look as nice on the Rescue Mission Duke. That figure is really hopeless.

Articulation is another reason I’m not so thrilled by the Troopers. Their elbows are barely functional, which means that it’s hard going trying to make them look natural holding the standard issue rifle in two hands. There is a wrist cut, but it is one of the ugliest I’ve ever seen. The arms are cast in green plastic and then painted in skin tones. This means taht you can see the swivel quite plainly, even if the figure is standing relaxed. They fore arms also tend to fall off. The rest of them is pretty standard, though.

The Firefly figure on the other hand, is just as expected. I’m pretty sure he’s identical to the Wave 3 version of the figure, though his paint might be a tinge bluer than the original. he’s got the same cross harness across his chest, same sculpted details on his pants, same sweater and balaclava. They gear is all the same as well. SMG with folding stock, transmitter/cellphone, backpack. Not as much as the Hall of Heroes version,has, but enough to make him look great.

All things considered, I still think this is a great buy if you’re a collector, and at 300 Php per figure, you can’t really complain to hard. In my particular case though, I’d probably pass on it if given the chance again. The Joe Troopers seem half hearted efforts on the part of Hasbro. I’ll probably keep their gear and just sell off the figures to one of our army builder or customizer friends.

Toy Review: Rise of Cobra Rescue Mission Boxset

08/15/09

Rescue Mission Boxset

There are two kinds of exclusives in my book. There’s the aggravating kind; original molds with small production numbers distributed in a limited number of places. I fucking hate these. They’re often of characters that many collector’s might want. Take the recent WalMart exclusive Nemesis and Ares waves of Marvel Legends and the Target exclusive Red Hulk. Figures in the Nemesis wave, which made it here in limited numbers but was hard to come by in the States, are fetching 7 or 8 times their value on eBay. If you weren’t lucky enough to have the cash for an entire Ares set, you can pretty much kiss Kang or Crossbones goodbye. The Red Hulk wave wasn’t even released in the Philippines. I had to get mine from a specialty store at twice suggested retail price. Coming up, we’ve got the new DC Universe Classics wave 10, with Batman and the Joker and Manbat, which you can be damn sure are going to be in demand. And what do you know? It’s a WalMart exclusive.

Damn. It.

Then there’s the special repaint/re-tool which is nice to have, but not really necessary. These are normally just exisiting toys with another color scheme or a different head or an extra accessory, which I’m actually okay with. I mean, if you don’t get a Treadbolt (a blue repaint of Transformers Classics Skyfire), it’s not going to hurt as much as if you say never got the chance to add a Classics Thundercracker, Thrust, or Dirge. Treadbolt isn’t really a character that has much of a following, while the other three (show exlusives) are.

Happily, Playkit has been pretty good about getting it’s hands on some choice exclusives for the new G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra lines. One of the lastest was the “Rescue Mission” boxset that came out about a month back. I’ve been eyeing this Target Exclusive since I first saw it on shelf, since the packaging is pure eye candy for a collector.

Unlike some of the previous 25th anniversary 5-packs and the new GI Joe vs Cobra 4-packs that just hit the shelf which are little better than the cards, the Rescue Mission set comes in a very attractive self-contained cardboard diorama and the figures are posed as if facing off against each other, Duke and Snake Eyes against 2 Navy Neo-Vipers. According the the text on the back, the scene is supposed to be set in Cobra’s underwater headquarters right after the Joe team has freed Duke from captivity. I figure that’s why Duke seems to be in his skivvies, while everyone else seems to be ready to party.

The choice of figures alone is bound to keep collectors happy. Snake and Duke are pretty popular if I’m reading the shelves right. Both the Paris Pursuit Snake Eyes and the Reactive Armor Dukes dissapeared from stores when the movie hit, so giving us another chance is nice. Plus, you get TWO Vipers to fill your ranks. While I prefer the red Royal Guard variant, these blue and gray ones are pretty nifty.

The figures are held in position by a mix of heat molded plastic inserts and those clear rubber band things. Prepare your scissors and nail clippers to get through all of these; it’s far, far easier than trying to peel everything off since there is a ton of tape on this baby.

If you’re careful and just cut through the tape, you can pretty much remove the plastic inserts and bands and keep the little printed diorama intact. It’s no architectural scale model, but for kids and geeks with little artistic talent (or a severe case of couch-potatoitis), it’s a nice little thing to add to your display.

The biggest reason I was hesitant to get this set was the appareent lack of accessories. When you look into the box, there’s only a gun for each of the figures, Snake Eye’s sword, and those ridiculous missle launchers. That’s not much at all, especially considering the 2000.00 Php price tag (a normal ROC figure is only 450.00 Php).

I was pleasantly surprise when I opened it up. Underneath the cardboard bottom is a plastic bag with 4 stands for the figures AND a plethora of sweet sweet weapons. All told, there are about 26 accessories included, plus the cardboard M.A.R.S. weapons case and stands. Since you can technically remove the Neo-Vipers’ armor, you’ve got 2 more. Here’s a run down:

• 3 SMGs/CQB rifles
• 2 pistols
• 1 sword
• 1 sheath
• 1 pocket knife
• 1 combat knife
• 1 pair of ice cleats
• 1 missle launcher with missle, zipline and handle
• 2 MARS rifles type A
• 2 MARS rifles type B
• 2 MARS pistols
• 2 MARS backpacks
• 2 missle launchers with 2 missles

That’s alot of gear. Some of it doesn’t quite fit the figures; the gray MARS guns are a bitch to stuff into the Neo-Viper gloves since they’ve got much thicker fingers than the two Joes. I’ve also got a problem with the sheath that came with it. It looked heat warped when I brought it out, to the point when i spent a good three minutes trying to figure out what it was for. Took a little effort, but I squeezed it back into shape with a little work, though.

The first one out of the package was Duke. As I said, he looks like he’s wearing somekind of sports wear or something, and looks awfully out of place. He’s probably my least favorite thing about the set. I’m really not impressed with his color scheme or his big head. The head looks decent (though it looks a bit like Zoolander’s Blue Steel look) and reminds me of the actor (who’s name has skipped my mind), but his body just looks really small from what I remember of the film.

I do like his hands and articulation however, since he can hold the pistols in a decent approxiamtion of the Weaver stance. I’m thinking of giving him the web gear from one of my Joe Troopers from the Firefly boxset (another exclusive from Toys R’ Us… argh!) and give him some girth.

Next out of the box was the two Neo-Vipers. Their sculpt is identical to the Red Neo-Viper “Royal Guard” figure (which is still in my review backlog). They don’t have that nice vac-metal sheen, but they do have a nice gloss to them. The gray guns are obviously theirs, but one set won’t fit in their hands since the grips are too big. I really like the fact that you can remove their chest plates.

If you’re an old fan, I suppose you might not like the new Viper look, but I really do. It’s great that they gave them a scarier look than a plain chrome faceplate. Seeing a platoon of these scary bastards coming at you is more likely to make you piss your shorts than seeing the old red and blue guys charging.

And then we come to the real reason to buy this set, Snake Eyes.

A lot has been said about this being the best Snake Eyes we’ve seen in the Rise of Cobra line, but really we’ve only seen 3 in the Philippines. There’s the normal one which is now warming shelves, the Paris Pursuit version and this one. The other one I know of is that one that came with Arashikage Cycle, and that’s just a kitbash with the old 25th Anniversary figures.

So is it true? Is it the the best?

Yes. yes, it is.

For one, it doesn’t have the silly lips that they sculpted into the first wave’s figure. I can’t say enough about how much those things creep me out. It’s like nipples on the Batsuit. Second, it’s go all this fantastic gear strapped on. The web gear isn’t removable, but it looks great. There’s even a small backpack sculpted on his back that looks a lot better than the one that comes with the regular release. He’s also got a nice pair of pants. He’s not wearing tights, and they don’t look like pajamas like they do on the Paris Pursuit version. All put together, he looks like he’s ready to play, with boots, knee pads, shoulder armor and pockets. All that detail really sold me on this figure.

And don’t forget the fact that his sword hangs from his belt rather than his back. There is no end to the awesome with this figure.

The only gripe I’ve got is that his right hand tends to fall off, but it’s easily fixed.

This set really is worth the purchase. More than any other set I’ve come across, this one stands out. Not only are you getting an amazing snake eyes figure, you’re getting 2 more vipers to add to your collection, and a ton of kit to add to your armory.

Plus Duke.

Movie Review: Sunshine

08/14/09

Originally posted 04/10/2009 on slangards.multiply.com

Sunshine

Bathed in yellow warmth
Sins and flesh turn to ash
Sunshine burns my soul

I couldn’t sleep again. My serotonin levels ebbing away and my frustration levels growing, I decided to see a movie again. It was either the questionable “The Reaping” or the new Danny Boyle flick “Sunshine”. Unless you’ve a complete lack of observational powers, you know I chose to see the latter.

I loved the trailer to this movie, and I was afraid it was going to be a complete let down (which is usually the case when I like a trailer), but I’m glad to say that this one was worth the hundred forty. It’s been a while since I saw any movie that could get me to actually hold my breath in anticipation of what would happen next.

The film is like a mess of 2001, 2046, and Contact, with maybe a little of ID4’s popcorn heroism thrown in. It has a certain visual lyricism that made it hard for me to take my eyes off the screen; every shot evokes an emotion. It’s not the showy, empty busyness of a Pitof film, just subtly dramatic photography that makes it hard to choose a favorite image.

The music is also something that really works well, striking chords that stir both hope and hopelessness within the same scene. I thought casting was pretty good too, with performances that didn’t overshadow the idea of the story, which is really what good science fiction is really made of.

The only dissapointment I have with the movie is the choice to shift the tone of it towards the end. Rather than continuing on with the slow burning, constantly building anticipation, the authors decided to rip out a page from 28 Days Later and the movie starts looking like a new age zombie slasher. The ending itself is great, with another lovely image to bring home with you; it’s just the falling action that really gets me.

Still. This is definitely one of my favorite movies now, right up there with Lord of the Rings, Princess Bride, Before Sunset, and Usual Suspects. It’s just a near perfect example of what a movie of it’s genre should be.

 

PS - 8/13/2009:
After watching this so many times on DVD since that first instance, I’ve found that even the ending will grow on you. The last 20 minutes or so of Pinbacker with Capa and Cassie really can get your blood pumping at the end of the movie, especially since much of it is such a slow boil.

Movie Review: Strings

08/13/09

Originally posted 10/03/2007 on Slangards.Multiply.com

Strings

Aside from the obvious, there is another reason I love shopping for DVDs in dark little corners of the metropolis rather than in the cool comfort of the record bars inside the malls. Every now and then you’ll run into a little known gem of a film that hasn’t gotten any hype and isn’t likely to make any of the bestsellers lists. You’ll look over the cover, likely say something along the lines of, “hmm… this looks interesting…” and fork over the 60-70 bucks without the apprehension you might suffer from if you were buying an original.

That’s exactly what happened when I picked up Anders Rønnow Klarlund’s “Strings”. I’d never heard of the film, (though it was released back in 2005 apparently) but it was one of those packages that just caught my attention and begged me to pick it up. According to the card, this is the”world’s first fully integrated puppet feature film”. In layman’s terms, that means the principles are all marionettes; the same creepy puppets they used to have in shows like Thunderbirds. Karlund was said to have wanted to come up with a commentary on 9/11 and the US views on terrorism. What we got was an amazing deep fantasy film that reminds me of nothing less than Henson’s The Dark Crystal.

Klarlund and his team of puppeteers, designers, and voice actors have come up with a world so rich in detail that it’s rife with it’s own mythology and feels as real as anything life-sized. It’s a world where even a king can die if his headstring is cut. A world where puppets are made, not born, carved of wood by their fathers’ hand, and connected to heaven by parts of their mother’s lifelines. A world of castes, where slaves are kept to supply the royals with spare parts.

The expert handling of the marrionettes lends the characters an eerie reflection of life, while the excellent voice work by the English cast (including Children of Dune’s James McAvoy and Braveheart’s Catherine McCormack) gives them a humanity you begin to believe in as the film goes on. By the end, you may actually find yourself rooting for Hal Kara and loathing Nezo and Ghrak as if you were a loyal subject of the dead Kharo yourself.

As I watched Strings, I felt it would have been an amazing live show, staged with live actors playing living puppets. It would have been an amazing thing to watch this classic story play out with life size strings coming from the top of actors heads leading to heaven. I’d gladly pay for a ticket to a play like that.

Movie Review: Wonder Woman

Wonder Woman

For a long time, “Direct to Video” was considered the kiss of death when releasing a movie. If your movie went straight to the video store without a broadcast or theatrical release, it meant that no one wanted your product. It put your work firmly in the realm of the “B movie”. Nowadays, studios are realizing that more and more people have a movie collection at home, so you can see a nice shift in direct to video films. There are still those “Gee, another movie with Eric Roberts” moments, but you’ll often find some real gems in the bargain bin when you pass by your local Video City or Astrovision.

Take Warner Home Video and their recent partnership with DC Comics. They already gave is what is quite frankly the best superhero cartoon series EVER to air on TV, Justice League. When that ran its course after the fifth season, WB and DC started cranking out straight to DVD animated features. They’d already had some experience with this when they did a few for the old Batman Animated series, but now they were stepping out of the G-rated DC Animated universe they had created and moving into the big leagues of PG-13.

Wonder Woman, released earlier this year, is one of the results of studios accepting the new paradigm that cartoons aren’t just for kids. It’s obviously heavily influenced by the DC Animated Universe, no surprise since Bruce Timm, the man behind the DCAU, is the producer. Though the director, Lauren Montgomery, a former story boarder for Timm, is obviously a fan of Disney, she manages to keep the adult themes going. Despite their work on the Saturday morning squad, these guys (with the help of writers Michael Jelenic & Gail Simone) were able to cook up a story that appeals to adult fans, too.

They make full use of the PG-13 rating, with the film taking on a decidedly violent bent. It’s not too far out there, since Wonder Woman is really Diana of the Amazons, a race of warrior women cut off from the rest of the world since the days of Ancient Greece. It’s great to see the origins of some of DC’s best characters being retold. I think this really is the medium for it, and it works so much better than DC’s retcons, or Marvel’s whole “Ultimate” Marvel Universe. There are some really great fight scenes, and though it’s not Miller’s 300, you’ll get to see a beheading or two. At least in silhouette.

You’ll also see a lot of flirting in this animated film. It’s by no means Playboy’s Girl Next Door, but Montgomery’s Amazons aren’t afraid of their sexuality. A lot has been said about how good a role model Wonder Woman is for girls but face it, she’s a better hero for a child than Lindsay Lohan or Britney Spears. Sure, she runs around in a corset and panties, but she can kick Batman’s ass while doing it, so things are about even. The whole thing is addressed when Diana teaches a crying girl how to swordfight. She shows her how to impale the boys who wouldn’t let her play pirates. “Unleash Hell,” she says.

Keri Russell plays Wonder Woman, and to her credit, I never once thought “Felicity” until I read the credits. Nathan Fillion (Serenity!), who plays a smarmy rogue so well, is perfect as downed pilot Steve Trevor, who trapped on an island of women, naturally finds time to play peeping tom. The rest of cast is filled with “real” actors, from Alfred Molina, to Virginia Madsen, to Rosario Dawson. The best voice acting is when you can’t recognize the voice because they’re selling the character. That’s the reason stuff like “Shark’s Tale” fails so miserably, since the animators are trying to hard too make the fish like Will Smith. Will Smith should become the fish. Happily, the cast here knows what it’s doing.

Art and cinematography for the film is excellent. The 70 minute runtime goes by fast since about 30% of it is composed of big fight scenes. It opens with the traditional action spectacular, an epic battle between Hippolyta’s Amazon forces and the Legion of Ares. It’s a nice foundation for the story and gets much of the exposition out of the way. Then you get into the Origin of Diana, the classic one where she is made out of mud and given life by Hippolyta’s longing for a child of her own. There’s the classic tournament where Diana wins the right to represent the Thymiscria as ambassador to the outside world, and yes… the Invisible Jet is there. No explanation whatsoever, but it’s there. You canon whores can be satisfied.

All in all, Warner and DC is giving Marvel and Lionsgate Home Entertainment a run for their money. You can’t help but compare this title with the recent Hulk Vs. Thor feature, and it is easily a match. While it’s not as violent, and the art is a little more Disney, the plot is every bit as engaging and fresh as it was when Diana was first introduced in 1941.