Kane
Masters of the WWE Universe (Mattel) - Wave 6
Rated 4.50 stars by Karl T. Face
May as well review something spooky this month. Kane appeared in the 90s, which is a vibe all its own. A bit of a cartoon, he was Undertaker's brother, left deformed and mute by a house fire, but with ill-defined fire powers. Over time, he used a voice box, then regained his speech, lost the mask, and quietly dropped the supernatural angle to good effect. This appears to be his recent retro look, mapped onto Origins Roboto. And you know what, it works. The greebles are unpainted (no doubt to preserve the color balance as much as the budget), and end up looking somewhat like athletic support devices. Sci-fi devices. Helps balance out the human torso. The head is new, of course, and looks great. The hair is translucent yellow, so the unpainted parts really stand out. This guy can in fact...[See More]

Robot Reaper
Worst (Super7) - Ultimates
Rated 4.30 stars by RMaster007
It's been about two years since Super7's own creation, The Worst, got its first Ultimate figures. While the concepts and designs were great, they were hampered by poorly-done articulation, with joints being either too loose or having barely any range, and they ended up being the "worst" for a different reason. We've gotten a few more waves since then, and although I haven't been too interested with them given my wave one experience, I couldn't pass up on the chance to get Robot Reaper for cheap once the opportunity came. Making the jump from retro-styled 3 3/4" figures to the larger Ultimates line allowed for Robot Reaper to get an updated, more detailed head sculpt. As the Grim Reaper is usually depicted as a skeleton, RR's head resembles the underlying materials of a humanoid robot....[See More]

Mondo Gecko
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Neca) - Adventures
Rated 4.75 stars by RMaster007
As spaced out as NECA's TMNT Adventures releases have been, they've been making up for it by putting out much as possible within short bursts. Case in point, we've recently gotten a four-pack and four new singles, one of which is Mondo Gecko, because the more Mutanimals, the better. Mondo's Adventures design seems to be a combination of his original toy and toon designs, with its own unique attributes, such as yellow eyes instead of red, and long, shaggy hair that would make his counterparts jealous. He has a calm, "hey duuuuude" expression, showing off his braces, lifted from his toy design, and the lined brows and lips seem to be toy-inspired as well. Tomasz Rozejowski provided the sculpt for our lizard friend, which is based off Ken Mitchroney's style, like usual for the line. His...[See More]

He-Man (Mutated)
Turtles of Grayskull (Mattel) - Basic Series
Rated 4.05 stars by RMaster007
Remember when I said I'd only be collecting the Mattel Turtles of Grayskull line for the TMNT figures? Well, that ended up being a lie as I ended up getting the line's wave one He-Man, and that soon led to me getting some of the Origins figures. I'd love to get to some of those sometime, but for now, I'll just talk about He-Man, the "most powerful mutant in the universe." I already talked about what the "deluxe" figure packaging was like with Sla'ker, but all the basic figures are on simple cardbacks. The graphics are nice, with an "exploding rocks" background and two characters on the upper corners. The good guys have He-Man and Leonardo, while the bad guys have Skeletor and Shredder. In this He-Man's case, the baddies are shown, which makes sense as Eternia's hero found himself exposed...[See More]

Bartman
Simpsons (Jakks Pacific) - Basic Series
Rated 4.30 stars by RMaster007
Jakks Pacific's Simpsons line has had a pretty good start, with well-crafted figures in two different scales, containing a nice variety of characters right out the gate, and more. The show itself has been home to a variety of outfits and unique appearances for its cast, just look at how much Homers and Barts Playmates did. Super7 jumped right to variants and deep-cuts, and it ultimately cost them the license, but Jakks has done a good balance of regular versions and variants. Case in point, we already have a Bart variant in Bartman. Sure, Super7 put out one earlier this year, but did they ever making a regular Bart? Nope, so Jakks gets the advantage. Bart's Bartman disguise solely consists of him putting a purple mask and cape on him, which isn't surprising given that he came up with it...[See More]

Keno (Foot Training) / Foot Soldier
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - 1990 Movie (Neca) - Secret of the Ooze
Rated 4.55 stars by RMaster007
NECA may have been going all out with TMNT figures as they relate to the original cartoon (and soon, the 2012 one) and comics, but the New Line movies they've been handling at a slower pace. There's only so much they can do from those films now that they've gotten through the major players, including the long-awaited Tatsu, but I assume they still have some plans for the first two movies before moving onto the third film. Last year gave us Keno from Secret of the Ooze, albeit as a SDCC exclusive, whereas Walmart got a "Foot Training" version. This look for Keno is a specific one, coming from when he infiltrates the Foot Clan with Raphael's assistance, and has to engage in combat to prove his worth. Trevor Grove, one of NECA's best when it comes to real-life people, provided the portraits...[See More]

Leonardo (2003 Series)
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - Classic Collection (Playmates) - 2003 Reissue
Rated 3.70 stars by RMaster007
For much of the 80s and 90s, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles were a household name, with comics, a cartoon, movies, toys, and everything else. By the end of the 90s, however, Turtlemania had dried up, with the toyline going on hold after Next Mutation's short run, and a forgettable run of comics by Image. A few years into the 21st century, the Turtles were making their way back into the mainstream with both the return of the Mirage comics and a new cartoon. After two failed pitches, the turtle teens were back on the air thanks to Fox and 4Kids, with the end result obtaining a long run and a big fanbase, thanks to a closer tone to the comics whilst remaining quirky and kid-friendly. This gave Playmates the opportunity to put out a new toyline, with plenty of unique variants and...[See More]

Captain Shiner
ThunderCats (Super7) - Ultimates
Rated 4.85 stars by RMaster007
The world of Thundercats is quite expansive, with plenty of unique characters and species. The old LJN line did much of those characters, but there were still some left unmade in figure form that now have ones thanks of Super7. I thought Captain Shiner was S7 only since he only appeared in two episodes, but no, LJN did him too. Both of his appearances showed he was a mercenary for hire employed by Mumm-Ra, but he was willing to help out the heroes in his debut, so in a way, he's the TC Ultimates line's first "neutral" character. Shiner's face reminds me a bit of a Sphynx cat, especially with the pinkish skin. The ears aren't very catlike, though, being rather small and pointed. I'm not sure if he's supposed to be a catman not associated with the Thundercats, but one thing's for sure, the...[See More]

Snarf
ThunderCats (Super7) - Ultimates
Rated 4.45 stars by RMaster007
A few days ago, I finally started watching Thundercats after leaving it sitting in my Hulu watchlist for over a year or so, and it's damn good. As in, probably the best 80s cartoon I've seen (yes, even more than the old TMNT cartoon). It was a well-written and occasionally surprisingly dark show for the time, and the anime-like style helped (mainly cause it was animated overseas). We all know about Super7's Ultimates lines, and I unfortunately didn't get into it soon enough to get some of the figures, like the super-popular Slithe or the Ghost Jaga exclusive that makes more sense in a display, but I've been getting what I can find, starting with Snarf, the… snarf. The packaging is fairly simple in design, making use of black and red colors, alongside the slip cover (which is no longer...[See More]

Powerpinch
Transformers - Beast Wars (Hasbro) - Basic Series
Rated 3.50 stars by Karl T. Face
This is what it looks like to be a winner and a loser at the same time. An early toy-only minion, this guy's only real personality trait is "cartoonishly evil". And as far as the beast mode goes, this is pretty good. It's a fairly good, if squarish, representation of an earwig, with defined segments, accurate mouthparts,and only slightly exaggerated cerci. The majority of the toy is cast in translucent green plastic, but it's so dark as to appear almost black in indirect light. The legs, face, and pincers are a nice Halloweeny orange. All in all, slightly evocative of a decaying leaf pile. Articulation is limited to a pair of hinges in the tail, enough to curl the pincer forward, and the pinchy pinchy action (lever-driven). Transformation is somewhat like a typical car, oddly- fold out...[See More]